When The History Repeats Itself
by Dalnim
Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy find out there's a betrothal contract between their families that is to be fulfilled in six months' time. There is no way out of it and now their children are forced to marry, or are they? How do the two former school rivals handle the matter? Will they find a way out of it?
1. Prologue

**Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy find out there's a ****betrothal****contract between their families that is to be fulfilled in six months' time. There is no way out of it and now their children are forced to marry, or are they? How do the two former school rivals handle the matter? Will they find a way out of it?**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. **

**READ PLEASE! \- This first chapter is a slightly altered epilogue of the 7th book of the Harry Potter series, which unfortunately is not written by me (as you can probably see from the differences in the writing styles) so you can just skip it and read the next chapter if you want to. **

**For the purposes of this story I have changed the ages of the Potter children a little bit as well as some other things as you will notice when the story goes forward. Whether you regard this as an AU or not is up to you.**

* * *

**When The History Repeats Itself**

**Prologue:**

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages tattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed fearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.

"One year." sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"

The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Albus' voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamor; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.

"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth -" But James caught his mother's eye and fell silent.

The five Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to." said Ginny.

"Not every day." said Albus quickly. "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year." said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared.

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

But the vapor was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, Harry thought he heard Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello . . . .

"I think that's them, Al." said Ginny suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Albus, sounding immensely relieved.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confound him." Ron whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus' trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it; I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo, Rose's younger brother, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you." said Ron, "But no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Ginny, but Ron was no longer paying attention.

Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is."

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his ex-wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

"So that's little Scorpius." said Ron under his breath.

"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"Hey!"

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there." He said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam. "Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!" He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction. "Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron -"

"- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" Whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al – Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "You and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven; you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville-"

James rolled his eyes. "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love . . . ." Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the Thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, and then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny kissed Albus goodbye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you're learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus' face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"- then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

He had never told any of his children that before and he saw the wonder in Albus' face when he said it. But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed.

The train began to more, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him. The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.

As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

"I know he will."

The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

Or was it?


	2. The Hidden Contract

**A/N: So from here on the story really begins! This has been on my computer forever and so I thought that maybe I'd finally start posting it. I have written quite a bit of this story already so updates will be weekly for now, but that may change in the future.**

**Warnings: Slash, references to sex between men (not really detailed), Mpreg? (possibly), you might get irritated with Harry and Draco 'cause they go back and worth pretty much the whole story and are blind/noble/scared idiots :)**

**But anyways, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

**Six Years later**

Harry Potter sighed as he sat down on one of the comfy armchairs in the study of the Potter Castle in Scotland. It was the first weekend of March and he had decided finally to go through all his properties in England and see what they consisted.

He should have done it years ago, but had found no time or motivation to do it. Now however, he felt like it was time, so here he was, in the biggest place he owned out of his ten houses/cottages/manors/castles – you-name-it – in_ Britain_. Harry didn't even want to think about the other places he had abroad. He had only visited three of them in his 41-years of age. Harry had spent every weekend since New Year's going over to his properties and gone through the paperwork and stuff and now he was in Potter Castle, which was the last one on his list.

He had gone through paperwork for the last hour and hadn't looked through even third of it yet and he was already exhausted. He felt more tired than he had felt in years and that included his stakeout missions before he was promoted to Head Auror.

It was weird.

Come to think of it, Harry had felt fatigue lately more often than not, even though he hadn't done anything exhausting.

_'__Maybe it's the old age.'_ Harry thought jokingly as he dragged himself from the chair and stood in front of a mirror. He was 41-years-old but looked no more than thirty. It was the wizards' slow ageing that made him look so much younger. In Harry's own opinion he looked good. He had finally grown up after the war and was now a bit taller than average. His body was well-toned and he was no longer the scrawny kid everyone remembered. His hair, as usual, was a mess, but it gave him a boyish look that made him look even younger and hotter and his beautiful emerald eyes were no longer shadowed by glasses as he had had his sight corrected after the war. All in all he was very good looking, but today he looked tired and slightly pale.

Harry wondered why that was. He had eaten and slept well the night before though he had woken up covered in sweat for some reason. In fact he had woken up in sweaty sheets nearly every morning the past month, but recalled having no nightmares, which usually was the reason. Harry regarded his reflection thoughtfully as if trying to see what was wrong with him, but found nothing. He felt fine, only very tired lately.

Shaking his head Harry turned around and walked back to the wooden desk where the paperwork waited for him. With a sigh he got back to work. He went through paper after paper about old business contracts and notes for the next fifteen minutes till an old parchment caught his eye. He took it in his hand and read through it his eyes widening in disbelief the more he read.

_Betrothal Contract _

_Potter &amp; Malfoy families 14__th__.June 1799_

_We, Marcus H. Potter and Septimus D. Malfoy hereby sign this betrothal contract between our two families to mend the friendship and alliance our Houses once preserved. One person from each house is to join hands in marriage with the other in six months' time from the moment this contract is found. So Mote It Be!_

_Signed,_

_Marcus H. Potter, Septimus D. Malfoy _

Harry slumped down to the seat shocked. The Potters had an ongoing Betrothal contract with the Malfoys of all people.

This couldn't be happening.

Harry thought about his kids who had not yet even left Hogwarts. James was in his last year, Albus in sixth year and Lily in fifth year. And one of them would have to marry Scorpius Malfoy in six months. Harry had nothing against the boy, having met him a few times and found he was very polite and smart – nothing like his father – but to force one of his kids to marry him? Harry honestly didn't know what he'd do if he really had to do that.

Lily was only fifteen and while she didn't care whether she dated boys or girls, Harry knew she had no interest in Scorpius. In fact she was dating some boy from her year at Hogwarts – at least Harry remembered her mention it. He had learned long ago not to meddle in his daughter's dating affairs after he had pulled the overprotective father (combined with the hero of the wizarding world, Voldemort's defeater etc.) act when she had brought one guy home for the first time when she was fourteen. She really had a temper to match her mother and a namesake and Harry had been forced to accept the fact that his baby girl wasn't so little anymore.

Albus too was only a year older than Lily and while he preferred boys he had been best friends with Scorpius since they were both sorted to the Slytherin house. They regarded each other as brothers and if it weren't for the fact that Albus was nearly a carbon copy of Harry and Scorpius of Draco, Harry would say they were twins with the way they communicated and knew each other. It reminded Harry greatly of the Weasley twins. But no, there was no way the two boys could marry each other.

And then there was James; the most mischievous of the Potter kids. They had just celebrated his seventeenth birthday and James had officially introduced his apparently longtime girlfriend properly to his parents. Harry of course had known about the girl, Alice Longbottom, as James had come to him for advice and to rant about girls many times during the two and a half years the pair had dated. Harry honestly wouldn't be surprised if they ended up married, but he hoped they would wait at least till they were twenty to really know what both of them wanted. Alice was a very sweet girl and reminded Harry greatly of her parents Hannah and Neville, whom Harry was still very close friends with, and knew that he could not break the pair up to force James to marry Scorpius – James would never forgive him.

He wouldn't forgive himself.

Rubbing his face into his hands Harry stood up and set out to go to Gringotts to verify the contract. There was still hope that it wouldn't be valid anymore, after all it was over two hundred years old.

There was still hope.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in his office sipping coffee as he read the latest letter his son Scorpius had sent him. It was late in the Monday evening as he had been overworking again, going through a case he was to present in court in a few days. He was working as a solicitor for a man who had been assaulted on his way home from work and beaten very badly. He was now suing the one who did it and Draco had to make sure they won the case.

Draco chuckled softly as he read about a prank Scorpius along with Albus Potter had played on the school. It still amazed him that the two boys had become best friends as their fathers barely got along even now, years after their school rivalry. Draco, though he would never admit it even under Veritaserum, was a bit jealous of his son as he himself had wished for a friendship with Harry when he was young but had gotten rejected. But Draco had nothing against Albus. He was an intelligent lad and Slytherin to boot, though Draco often wondered where the boy got it as both his parents Potter and the Weaslette were Gryffindors through and through. _'I bet Potter was shocked.'_ Draco thought smirking.

A sharp knock on the door startled Draco from his musings and he called the person in. _'Who would be still at the Ministry at a time like this?'_ He wondered glancing at the clock. It was nearly midnight. He shifted his gaze back at the door just in time to see Potter's head appear, his hair a mess as usual.

"Malfoy, you got time? I need to speak to you about something." He asked his voice serious.

"Come in." Draco said with a curt nod towards the chair in front of him. He had had to work with Potter on many occasions, him being a lawyer and Potter being the Head Auror and they got somewhat along these days and were actually capable of having a civil conversation without too many insults in the mix.

Potter came in, his posture full of confidence, which was very different of what it had been when they were still at school and Draco still couldn't help but wonder about him.

"So what do you want Potter? I thought we wrapped up the last case on Friday." Draco asked sounding bored.

"I'm not here about a case. I'm here about this." Potter said and handed him an old looking piece of parchment.

"What's this?" Draco asked reading through the paper, his eyes narrowing. "What kind of sick joke is this Potter?!" He demanded.

"Unfortunately, it's not a joke. I confirmed it earlier today with the Goblins, it's valid." Potter said tiredly. "You can check for yourself, if you don't believe me."

Draco looked at him his eyes narrowed before turning to his fireplace and contacting his Vault manager. After a few minutes discussion the goblin confirmed that the contract was indeed valid and should be fulfilled in six months' time.

"What are we going to do Potter?" Draco asked shocked. His son, his only son would have to be married to a Potter.

"That's what I'm here to discuss with you." Potter said tiredly. Draco noticed he looked really pale.

"What can we do? Our children have to get married before September the 1st or we'll all lose our magic! There's no way around a betrothal contract." Draco exclaimed.

"Then we'll find a way. There has to be some kind of loophole." Potter said. "There's no way one of my children would marry your son. While I have nothing against Scorpius, James is as good as engaged with his girlfriend, Lily's not sixteen yet and has a boyfriend of her own and Albus thinks your son as his brother. How do you think I will force one of them to marry Scorpius? They'd never forgive me."

"Fine. We'll find a way. We have six months to do it." Draco said more to himself. "Who knows about this?"

"No-one apart from the goblins. I came here as soon as I could." said Potter.

"Not even Weaslette?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow and Potter shook his head. "Fine, let's keep it that way for now. There's no point in worrying the kids just yet."

"Agreed. I will collect all the books I find about marriage contracts in the Potter and Black libraries." Potter said.

Draco nodded. "I will check the Malfoy library. Let's meet on the weekend… where?"

"Potter Castle in Scotland." Potter said. "No-one else knows about it and it's where I found the contract. There has to be something about it."

"Fine. Leave me the apparition coordinates." Draco said and Potter wrote them down.

"I will key you to the wards." Potter said standing up. "Meet you there at ten am in Saturday morning."

Draco nodded his agreement and Potter left.

_'__What a mess.'_ He thought.

* * *

Harry shut the door of Malfoy's office and started walking back to the Auror Department when suddenly he started feeling dizzy and his vision blackened. He took hold of the wall beside him to not to fall down and waited for the dizziness to pass. It was the second time in the same day that he had felt the dizziness. The first time it had happened was when he arrived at Gringotts to verify the contract, but had dismissed it as a side effect of apparition, though he hadn't felt dizzy in years having accustomed to its feeling.

The second time couldn't possibly be a coincidence. The fatigue, paleness, dizziness; there was something definitely wrong with him.

But what?

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**\- Dalnim**


	3. The diaries

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of _When the history repeats itself. _Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Saturday came quickly and Draco found himself standing outside a huge castle in Scotland. The Potter Castle was truly a magnificent sight with its towers and gardens and Draco couldn't help but be impressed. He walked towards the front doors, which opened by themselves when he got close enough and entered the hall where a house-elf was waiting for him.

"I is welcoming you to Potter Castle, Mister Malfoy." The elf said bowing. "I is Sneezy. I will be leading you to Master Harry."

Draco nodded at the elf and followed him through the large castle. The castle was just as amazing from the inside as it was from the outside. The corridors were decorated with beautiful carpets and armors and portraits, which looked at him curiously. Soon they walked through a large double-door door and Draco found himself entering a huge library and if Draco had to guess, he'd say it was bigger than the one at Hogwarts.

"Good morning Malfoy."

"Potter." Draco nodded noticing the other man sitting on one of the armchairs in the middle of the library surrounded by dozens of books. The place was three-floored and every wall had a shelf filled with multiple books on different subjects and in the middle of the room was a table, which was surrounded by comfy chairs and sofas. "Nice place you got here."

"Yeah." Harry said. "So did you find anything?"

"I've got thirty-five books that have a mention of a betrothal contracts." Draco said taking a small pouch from his pocket and enlarging it. He took out the books and put them on the table.

Harry nodded.

"I found sixty-two." He said with a grimace, gesturing the piles around him. "But I'm sure some of them a same as yours." He continued hopefully.

Draco groaned inwardly, it would take forever to go through all of them and they only got six months.

"Well, let's get to work, Potter."

* * *

"This is hopeless." Harry groaned after seven hours and only three books, which only had a slight mention of the subject.

"Really, Potter?" Draco drawled raising an eyebrow.

Ignoring him Harry sighed and stood up.

"I'm going to take a break. Call Sneezy if you need something." He said and after a nod from Draco he left wandering around the huge castle until he reached a room with a huge swimming pool. _'Maybe a swim would cheer me up.'_ He thought before stripping and transfiguring himself a pair of swimming trunks.

Back in the library Draco finished his book and stood up stretching his numb limbs. Deciding to take a small walk before continuing his reading he moved to explore the huge library. It was truly a magnificent place with hundreds of shelves filled with old tomes. Draco wondered if it was a self-updating as it seemed the books were much newer in the first floor than the second and third.

While exploring the second floor an old tome caught his eye. It had old worn leather covers and its pages extruded from between them. His curiosity getting the better of him he took the book carefully into his hands and returned to the reading area. With great care he opened the old book, his eyes widening:

**_The Diary of Marcus Potter_**

**_Years: 1798-1799_**

Excited Draco started to read the old tome thinking there had to be something regarding the contract in the diary and maybe a reason why the two families had signed it in the first place.

After reading the first few pages a thought came to Draco and he put the tome down. If Marcus kept a diary, was there a diary from Septimus too?

Draco tried to continue the reading but his thoughts returned back to Septimus' diary. Deciding that the thought wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't go and check the Malfoy library, he stood up putting the old diary carefully on the table and left to find Harry.

He wandered into the few rooms close to the library before deciding it was a lost cause to try to find Harry in the huge castle and called Sneezy.

"What can Sneezy be doing for Mister Malfoy?" Sneezy asked bowing as he popped into the corridor.

"Can you take me to Potter?" Draco asked.

"Sneezy can." The elf said and took Draco a few corridors up.

"Master Harry will be there." Sneezy said pointing the door. Draco nodded and the elf popped away. He opened the door and found himself in a room which resembled a lot of the Prefect's bathroom back in Hogwarts.

Scanning around the room he spotted Potter coming up from the pool and swallowed hard. Potter had nothing on except for tight swimming trunks that left nearly nothing for imagination. His muscular body was dripping of water and all the scars made him look even sexier. Not to mention that wet, messy hair…

_'__Get a grip Malfoy.'_ Draco told himself. _'This is _Potter_ you're checking out.'_

Gathering himself Draco cleared his throat capturing the attention of Potter who was drying himself with a conjured towel.

"Oh, Malfoy. Didn't see you there. What's up?" Harry said not bothered by the fact that he was half-naked.

"I found Marcus Potter's diary from the year the contract was drafted in the library and thought I'd go back to the Malfoy Manor to check if Septimus kept one too." Draco said trying to keep his eyes from trailing down Potter's body.

"Really?" Harry asked excited his emerald eyes lighting up. "There's bound to be something of the contract."

"Yes." Draco said. "So, I'll be going."

"Sure." Harry said spelling his clothes back on. "You coming back later today or tomorrow?"

"Today probably."

"Okay, I'll have Sneezy make us some dinner then."

Draco nodded happy to make an exit from Potter and the disturbing image of him in the sexy swimming trunks and water-dripping body… and they parted ways, Harry going back to the library and Draco to the Malfoy manor.

Maybe they'd finally find something.

Later that day found Harry and Draco back in the library of the Potter Castle, both reading the diary of their respective ancestors'. Like Draco had thought, Septimus had also kept a diary from the year the contract had been created. So far though, there had been no mention of the contract – instead they were given background information of the relationship between their ancestors.

"Well, isn't this ironic." Harry said dryly. "Our ancestors were enemies at school too… What I don't understand though, is that how in Merlin's name did they fall in love with each other. Marcus only writes about how Septimus always picked on him at school with petty insults (quite like you Malfoy) and they fought a lot and then suddenly he's the best thing that has ever happened to him. There's only three days between the entries. What could've possibly happened?" He continued turning to look at Draco who kept silent, still reading his book.

Harry stared at his former school rival in question as he continued to read Septimus' diary, completely ignoring him. Looking more closely he could detect a faint blush on the blonde's pale face and couldn't help but think that he looked gorgeous, before quickly dismissing the thought.

"Malfoy, are you blushing?" He asked a very Slytherin smirk forming on his face as he stood up and quickly walked over to Draco and took the diary from his hands.

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed as his trance broke, his blush deepening as he looked at Harry, who was dancing away from him with the tome in his hands. "Give that back Potter!" He glared clearly alarmed as he ran after him.

"Nope, I want to know what makes a Malfoy blush." Harry winked at him as he erected a shield around himself so that he could read in peace.

"Potter!" Draco yelled, but Harry just ignored him in order to read the diary.

**_Dear diary, 24. April 1799_**

**_I can't believe Zabini did that to me! How dare he lace my drink with Veritaserum, in front of the whole class at that! With Gryffindors! Now everybody knows I am attracted to Potter. Even Potter himself! I'm never going to live this down. I'm a Malfoy for Merlin's sake. I should hate Potter, like my whole family does. Potters and Malfoys have always been enemies – why I have no idea and I don't think anyone knows anymore, it's just the way it is. So I have tried to hate him. I almost succeeded for the whole seven years – only a few months left – but that damn Zabini… Why am I best friends with him again?_**

**_Anyway, Potter. I haven't seen him since the potions class and needless to say I stormed out of the room (gracefully of course, Malfoys don't run) as fast as I could, not daring to look at his gleeful face. He's most likely already planning on how to use that information in his advantage. He's going to torture me with it and mock me for it, I just know it. Not to mention the rest of the school – my reputation is gone. I'm only waiting for a letter from Father telling me how disappointed he's in me for falling for a Potter. He's probably going to disinherit me or something._**

**_All because I fell for that annoying, gorgeous, brilliant, sexy git, who won't leave me alone, even in my dreams._**

**_Septimus_**

**_Dear diary, 25. April 1799_**

**_You won't believe what happened yesterday! I ran into Potter at the lower level of the dungeons and I was fully prepared to put up with his insults and mockery of my crush on him, but instead he asked me if I really meant it. I of course, being me, snapped at him that I was under the influence of Veritaserum and informed him that it was in fact a truth serum, and guess what? He didn't snap back at me or retort at all. He only rolled his eyes at me and then pushed me into the wall and kissed me. Can you believe it? He Kissed Me! The kiss was so sweet and gentle and… perfect. It made my toes curl and knees go weak and I would have probably fallen down had Marcus not held me up…_**

**_Marcus said he liked me too and I could tell that he was sincere; I could see it in his eyes… those lovely chocolate eyes… Anyway, we agreed that we couldn't court each other publicly because of our families so we agreed to meet in secret. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am right now. I can't wait to meet Marcus again tonight. Maybe he will kiss me again and maybe someday there will be something more…_**

**_Septimus_**

**_Dear diary, 26. April 1799_**

**_I dreamt about Marcus again. We were down by the Black Lake at our tree, away from other students just enjoying each other's company. I was leaning against Marcus' chest, his strong arms wrapped around me protectively and his head on my shoulder. He was whispering sweet nothingness into my ears and I felt happier and calmer than ever. I felt safe – I didn't need to pretend anything with him. I could just be myself and he accepted me like I was._**

**_He whispered something into my ear (I don't remember what) making me blush, before kissing my neck with soft butterfly kisses that made my toes curl. He told me he loved me. I felt like crying when he told me that. Nobody had ever told me that, not even Mother, who at least cares about me at some level. Father wouldn't tell me that even under Imperious. "Malfoys don't express their feelings" He'd say, "It's a sign of weakness."_**

**_But Marcus made me feel so loved and cherished. I asked him to repeat it and he did. He whispered 'I love you' to me over and over, while kissing and sucking my neck, marking me as his. And that was what I wanted – to be his and him to be mine._**

**_Suddenly the dream changed and we were in my dorm room. We were kissing hungrily our tongues battling for dominance as we stripped each other from our clothes. Soon we were naked and Marcus stopped to look at me like I was an angel, telling me how beautiful he thought I was, before moving to worship my body. He tasted me and marked me with his tongue and teeth before moving to prepare me. I can almost feel him inside of me, filling me like he was a part of me. He made love to me for hours before we both collapsed exhausted, but happier than ever. He told me he loved me again and this time I answered him._**

**_Needless to say I woke up in wet sheets and had to take a shower before going to class. I couldn't look at Marcus at all without blushing and I know he's going to interrogate me about it tonight when I see him again. I wonder what he'd say if I described my dream to him…_**

**_Septimus_**

Harry stopped reading the diary, feeling his own cheeks heat up a little at what he was reading. He could certainly understand now why Malfoy had been blushing… Clearing his throat he commented:

"Well, that explains how they got together."

"Indeed." Draco said and an awkward silence fell upon the two men, who were both trying to calm their reactions to the dream Draco's ancestor described in his diary.

"Err… let's get back to work, shall we?" Harry said after a while and handed the diary back to Draco, who agreed and they continued to read in silence, neither admitting even to themselves that their thoughts kept on trailing back to the diary entry, only with slightly different protagonists.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought. **

**Next chapter will be posted next week and we will find about what's wrong with Harry.**

**\- Dalnim**


	4. Saint Mungos

**A/N: Thanks for reviews! Here's a bit longer chapter for you today where we find out what's wrong with Harry as well as some info about Ginny (I know you were curious!) :) Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The weeks went by and Draco and Harry continued their research on Betrothal contracts whenever they could get away from their jobs. They had finished reading the diaries with a few more awkward moments and _problems_ (their ancestors sure had dirty minds), but had found no mention of the actual contract they had formed and the two men had begun to get a bit desperate. June was fast approaching and they were no closer on getting rid of the contract than they were on the day they found it.

On another note, Harry was feeling more ill by the day. He was constantly pale and tired and often woke up with sweaty sheets, which most of the time had nothing to do with dreams, though he had those too at times, featuring some pale blonde – not that Harry admitted it even to himself. Sometimes Harry also felt a wave of dizziness and was really beginning to think he should go and see a healer – which was saying a lot as he usually refused to go anywhere close to hospitals even if he was clearly injured.

Nevertheless Harry decided it was time to let go of his Gryffindor stubbornness and made an appointment with a trusted healer at the Saint Mungos, which was why Harry now entered the hospital room, dropping the disguise he had used to enter the hospital unnoticed. After all, the press would have a field day, if Harry was seen in there meeting a healer, which Harry of course didn't want.

"Good afternoon, Mister Potter." The healer said with a smile offering her hand.

Harry rolled his eyes at the formality. "Hullo, Angelina." He said. "Or do you prefer Healer Weasley?" He smirked.

Angelina laughed and hugged her old friend.

"It's good to see you Harry. I haven't seen you for a while. You've skipped all the Weasley dinners lately." She said.

"Yeah, I've been busy…" Harry said grimacing. "And well, you know how Molly is… She still hasn't accepted Ginny and my divorce, even after all these years."

"I know, but still, we'd love to have you there more often. Married or not, you're still family." Angelica said.

"Thanks Ang." Harry said.

"Anyway, what brings you here? From what I know you hate hospitals, so for you to come willingly…?"

"Yeah, well, I haven't been feeling very well as of late, so I thought maybe it was time to get a checkup." Harry said.

"Okay, well take a seat and I'll make a scan on you. So have you any symptoms or in what way have you not felt well?" Angelina asked as she took out her wand and started scanning Harry.

"Well, for like the past three months I've been feeling very tired most of the time though I have slept well and I often sweat a lot in my sleep. Sometimes I get dizzy just out of the blue and I think I have lost some weight too. And then there's the paleness." Harry said waving a hand on himself and dropping the glamour he kept on his face to cover the sickly paleness.

"Oh my, well it's good that you came to me." Angelina said. "Hmm… My scans show nothing out of the ordinary, but I'd like to take some blood from you, if that's alright."

"Sure." Harry said and rolled up his sleeve. Angelina took some blood from him with a syringe and healed the small wound when she was done.

"I'm gonna take this to the lab, I'll be back in a bit." She said and Harry nodded.

Five minutes later she returned to the room.

"We should have your results back in twenty minutes." She said. "Do you wanna grab something to eat at the cafeteria while we wait? I have a lunch break."

"Sure, why not." Harry said and the two old friends left. They took a table at the small cafeteria Harry drinking coffee and eating a sandwich while Angelina took some salad and water.

"So how's George?" Harry asked.

"Oh he's good. He's very excited about going abroad with the business. It was his and Fred's dream to make the WWW known all around the Magical world and now there's a lot of offerings and request coming from many countries.

"Yeah, I heard about that." Harry said recalling reading about it in a paper. "So he's gonna travel a lot this year."

"Yeah, well a bit. Mostly though, it's gonna be Lee, who travels from country to country, so George won't be away too much, which I'm grateful for as I wouldn't be able to go with him with work and it's get a bit lonely when all the kids are at Hogwarts."

"I know what you mean." Harry said.

"Ginny's still on tour is she?" Angelina asked.

"Yeah though, she's coming back next week just before the kids arrive."

"There's a rumor going that's she's dating another Quidditch player… Any truth in that?" Angelina asked her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Harry smirked. "Yeah, I heard that too, but I wouldn't know…" He drawled.

"Come on Harry, I know you do. She always tells you everything. You're like Fred and George were before Fred died. You know everything about each other." Angelina pouted.

"Well, she did mention something about some Quidditch player, who's a complete fanatic that made his team players wake up in ungodly hours to train back in Hogwarts… I believe he's currently the Captain of Puddlemere United…" He grinned.

"You mean she's dating Oliver!?" Angelina gaped. "Really?"

"Yeah, well, I could have understood wrong from her letters where she described how amazing and sexy and funny and brilliant he is."

"Merlin's beard." Angelina said. "They do make a cute pair though. I just always thought Oliver as a bit of a player… He had a quite a few flings back in Hogwarts and he has almost always a new girl with him when there's a picture in the paper."

"Yeah. But maybe Ginny manages to tame him down." Harry said.

"Yeah, let's hope so. It's time for him to settle down."

The two friends continued their light conversation and finished their lunch before going back to the hospital room where Angelina found Harry's results on her desk.

"Well, let's see…" She said looking at the papers while Harry observed her facial reactions.

"What is it Ang?" Harry asked a worry creeping on him as Angelina said nothing and just stared at the papers with a concerned frown. "Just tell me."

"There's some change in your chromosomes…"

"And?"

"It appears that you have a disease called chronic myelogenous leukemia. It's a Muggle disease and very rare on wizards." Angelina said looking at Harry with concern.

Harry stared at her for a moment.

"Leukemia? That's like a cancer, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's often called the blood cancer. Your case is characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood. It's often symptomless, but can cause the symptoms you described to me earlier."

"So… is it treatable?"

"I – yes, it is." Angelina hesitated.

"I sense a 'but' there." Harry said.

"There are potions that can treat it in the early stages, but we haven't found potion yet, which could cure it when it's gone past the stage."

"And in my case, I'm past the stage the potion would have any effect, right?" Harry said already knowing the answer.

It was just his luck.

"Yes." Angelina said sighed. "But there is a possibility of the bone marrow transplant."

"What does that require?"

"We need to find you a willing donor, who has the same tissue type as you and then we can perform a surgery where we transfer some of the donor's healthy tissue to you." Angelina explained.

"There's a lot of risk in surgeries, isn't there?"

"Yes there is, but not as much as in Muggle ones as we have our magic to help us."

"Okay, so how do we find me a donor?" Harry asked.

"I will add you to the list of leukemia patients and search for a fitting type."

Harry nodded.

"Now, I'll need to scan you and find out what type you are and to see how far your disease has really gone. Then I will give a few potions that you need to take every day. They should help with the symptoms that come with the illness." Angelina said in her Healer mode, but being an Auror, Harry could see the anxiousness behind the professional façade. "Just take off your shirt and lay down on your stomach."

Harry proceeded and Angelina started scanning him, muttering under her breath. It went on for a few minutes and Harry started to get worried.

"Ang?" He asked turning his head to look at her. Seeing her face he said: "It's bad, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry Harry." Angelina said and Harry closed his eyes.

"Tell me."

"I – it can still be treated, but it has gone so far that if the surgery isn't performed soon…" Angelina couldn't say it, but she didn't need to.

"How long do I have?" Harry asked with a surprising calmness.

"I – A year or less." Angelina said trying to keep her tears from falling.

Harry nodded in acceptance and got up from the bed, putting his shirt back on. Turning to look at Angelina he got a feeling there was something she wasn't telling him.

"There's more, isn't there?"

"I'm sorry Harry, but your tissue type is very rare. It can only be found in a handful of people in both Magical and Muggle worlds."

Harry sighed and rubbed his face on his hands. It was just his luck. A rare tissue type and a rare illness for wizards. And less than a year time to live. _'I guess I should've seen it coming. I have gotten 24 years of peace; it was time for something bad to happen.'_ He thought.

"We will do anything we can to find you a fitting donor, Harry. I swear, just don't give up hope." Angelina said hugging her old friend.

"I know you do, Ang." Harry said hugging her back. "I know you do."

* * *

Later that day Harry sat deep in thought in his London apartment nursing a glass of Firewhiskey. He was thinking of everything that had happened during the past few months, the contract with Malfoy and now his illness. To be honest, Harry wasn't that shocked to hear he was basically dying. Of course, he didn't want to die, but death wasn't something he was scared of.

No, not anymore.

Not after everything he had gone through in his life. Harry had accepted death twenty-four years ago when he walked into the Forbidden Forest and let Voldemort hit him with the Killing curse.

But still, that didn't mean he wanted to die. No, he wanted to live to see his kids really grow up and start their own families. He wanted to see his grandkids and play with them.

But most of all, he wanted to fall in love.

Harry loved the people around him; his kids, the Weasleys, his friends, but what he really craved for was to fall in love with someone. He had always loved Ginny, but she was more like a sister and best friend to him, even when they were married. No, Harry needed someone he could love romantically and had yet to find that person, whose only requirements were that he was a male and didn't care about the Wizarding world's Savior –crap. So basically, it was a mission impossible.

Even after all these years people came after him for his fame and money, which was why Harry didn't even, try to find someone from the wizarding world – he could never know if they were sincere or not.

Now though, with less than a year to live, there was no point even trying. Now he'd only concentrate on finding a way out of the Betrothal contract, so that the kids didn't have to get married.

No time like present, Harry decided sighing and took another sip from his whiskey before Flooing to the Malfoy Manor, where he had agreed to meet Draco.

"Evening Potter." Draco greeted him from an armchair by the fireplace.

"Hullo Malfoy." Harry nodded to him.

"You okay, you look a bit ragged." Draco asked taking a good look at him.

"I'm fine." Harry said dismissively.

"You sure?" Draco asked looking at him almost concernedly. "You really don't look very well."

Harry felt like snapping at the blond to mind his own business, but that would only raise more questions, so he decided to use another approach:

"You were worried about me, Malfoy?" He asked cocking an eyebrow in a very Snape-like manner.

"I was not!" Draco said defensively.

"That's what I thought." Harry muttered under his breath before continuing out loud. "So, have you found anything?"

"No. We're running out of books." Draco said with a sigh.

_'__And time.'_ Harry added mentally as he flopped on a chair next to Draco.

"There's bound to be something on the contract." Harry said taking the old parchment into his hand. "I still can't believe there was nothing on the diaries."

"Yes, that is a bit odd." Draco mused. "They wrote about everything else."

"Do you think it could be under a password or something? Or written in an invisible ink?" Harry mused aloud.

"That's it!" Draco exclaimed making Harry jump. "Moonlight writing! It was common thing used in the late 1700s."

"What's moonlight writing?" Harry asked having never heard of it before.

"It's the earlier form of the invisible ink. The writing can only be read in moonlight." Draco explained clearly excited. Harry couldn't help but think he looked very cute when he was excited about something.

"That's handy." Harry said. "Well, let's check it out." He continued and handed the two books to Draco, who performed a moonlight charm on them. The two men waited for a few seconds to see if it worked, but nothing happened. Sighing in disappointment Draco sank back to his chair.

"Well, it was worth a shot."

"What about the papers which were between the diaries?" Harry asked.

"What papers?" Draco asked frowning.

"There were a few empty papers and envelopes between the diaries." Harry said. "Maybe they were letters or something."

"Could be. Where did you put them?" Draco asked.

"I think they're still on the table in the library at the Castle." Harry mused before calling out. "Sneezy!"

"What can Sneezy do to Master Harry?" The elf asked with a bow as he popped into the room.

"Can you bring me the stack of papers on the table in the library?" Harry asked and the elf vanished only to return seconds later with the required papers. "Thank you Sneezy, you may go." Harry continued and with a final bow, the elf left. "Here." Harry said and gave Draco the papers.

Draco muttered the charm again and a few seconds later writing appeared on the papers.

"Yes, it worked!" Draco exclaimed. "They are letters they sent each other during the summer after their final year at Hogwarts." He continued looking at the dates before giving Harry half of the letters and starting to read.

"It looks like they were having a bit of problems to meet each other." Harry mused after a while.

"Yeah. And it looks like Septimus father is on to them." Draco said. "Listen to this."

"Dear Marcus, as I feared my Father has somehow found out I am seeing someone, though I'm certain he does not know it's you. Nevertheless, he has decided to arrange a marriage between me and Cruella Black. I am holding out a hope that my Mother interferes as she is not very friendly with the Black family, but I fear she will keep silent regardless. Fear not though, my love, I shan't marry that girl even at wand point. We must find a way to be together in a way that no one can stop us and soon. I only hope my Father doesn't find a way to prevent me from seeing you. I miss you so much and wish to feel your arms around me again. Maybe we can meet at some point tomorrow. Yours Forever, Septimus." Draco read.

"Well, that's interesting." Harry said. "So that's why they came up with the Betrothal contract."

"Yeah, here it is. Marcus writes about the contract saying it's a secure way to make sure they have to get married regardless of their parents' wishes. He says he has made sure there's no way out of it as, if it's not fulfilled in time both parties' whole family will lose their magic. He asks Septimus to meet him so they can sign it. I guess they planned to hide it somewhere Marcus' father would find it and the magic in the contract would activate." Draco said.

"But why didn't it?" Harry asked. "They never got married. Something must have happened."

"Let's see." Draco mused flipping through the letters, trying to find something that would explain it. "Here are a few letters from Marcus that have been returned to their sender."

"Let me see." Harry said and Draco handed him the letters. "It seems he can't get in contact with Septimus and tries to reach him, but for some reason the letters keep coming back." He said after reading the letters. "Do you think his father found out and stopped him from receiving the letters?"

"Could be." Draco said looking thoughtful for a second. "Let me check something." He continued and disappeared into the Malfoy library. After a few minutes he came back with a thick tome and put it on the table flipping through it. "This is a self-updating book about all past Malfoys. There should be all of their basic information like birthdate, profession, death etc." He explained seeing Harry's curious look.

"Here it is, Septimus Draconius Malfoy." Draco said. "Read this."

Harry looked over the book and read:

"_Septimus Draconius Malfoy, Parents: Desmond Septimus Malfoy &amp; Miriam Fiona Zabini, Date of birth: 6__th__ August 1781, Profession: none, Death: 8__th__ July 1799, poison._ Well that's tragic. So the contract wasn't fulfilled because Septimus died."

"I think it's more like he was killed." Draco said grimly.

"Killed?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow. "You don't think his Father would have killed his own son?" Harry continued shocked as he realized what Draco was implying.

"That's exactly what I think happened." Draco said.

"But why would he kill his only child? He was his heir, wasn't he?"

"I think this explains it." Draco said pointing at the name under Septimus.

"Lucifer Desmond Malfoy, Date of birth: 22nd November 1899." Harry read. "So, Septimus' mother was pregnant with another son for him, so Desmond decided to kill his first born for falling in love with a Potter."

"Pretty much." Draco said looking a little disturbed, himself.

"Your family is totally messed up, Malfoy." Harry said shaking his head, fully prepared to hear Draco defend his family, but it didn't come. Harry turned to look at his old rival and saw he was deep in thought. Guessing what he was thinking he said:

"You don't think Lucius would have…" He trailed of.

"In a blink of an eye." Draco said tonelessly.

Harry didn't know what to say to that. An awkward silence fell upon them and Harry felt like he wanted to comfort Draco somehow. Tell him that his father wouldn't have done that to him, but the truth was that he would have. Forcing him to take the Mark was enough evidence of that.

"Shouldn't the contract have transferred into Lucifer after Septimus died? I mean it didn't add only to Marcus and Septimus." Harry said after a while.

"Not if Marcus' father never found it." Draco said. "The contract doesn't say who has to marry who as long as it's a Potter and a Malfoy by blood."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"Well now we know their story and why they never married, but we're no closer in finding out a way around this." He commented.

"We just have to keep looking." Draco said with a sigh and poured himself more whiskey.

"We can do that on weekend." Harry said yawning. "I'm gonna head home."

Draco nodded to him.

"So your apartment on Saturday then?"

"Yeah. Just come through the Floo around ten or something."

Draco nodded in acceptance and Harry left the Malfoy Manor his mind still on the tragic story of their ancestors. Their story was almost straight out of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet apart from the fact that they didn't kill themselves. Harry was also curious of why the contract was never found and so he decided to research the Potter family and see what it said about Marcus and his parents. But that could wait till tomorrow he decided. Now he only wanted to sleep and let his mind process all the happenings of the day.

* * *

Harry spent the rest of the week processing and coming to terms with his illness, scrupulously taking all the potions Angelina had given him. He had also researched his family and found out that the Potter family had moved out of the Potter Castle having built the Potter Manor, and so the Betrothal contract had never been found till Harry came across it and activated it.

What plagued Harry's mind constantly for the whole week though, wasn't his illness or the story of their ancestors, but a thought that had come to him when he had awoken in the middle of the night, after leaving the Malfoy Manor.

Draco's statement of how the contract didn't specify who had to marry who as long as they were Potter and Malfoy and the wording of the contract bothered him greatly till he found a way to get at least their children out of the contract. But the question was; could he do it?

Harry spent the rest of the week weighing pros and cons till he reached his decision. Now he only had to go through with it and hope that Malfoy was cooperating…

Not bloody likely.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**A little note to say that I'm sorry for any mistakes regarding leukemia, I'm not familiar with the disease and my medical knowledge equals pretty much zero. Everything I found was from the internet, mainly Wikipedia and we all know how reliable that is. :D**

**\- Dalnim**


	5. The Proposition

**A/N: Thanks for reviews! Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's a bit shortish, but I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling**

* * *

Draco arrived on Harry's apartment on the Saturday morning, already fed up with the research. They had searched for three months and were no closer in finding the solution than they were in the beginning.

Sighing he greeted Potter, who was sitting by the fireplace, nursing a glass of Firewhiskey. _'Drinking at half eleven in the morning!'_ Draco thought, but couldn't really fault him for that. Draco himself felt like getting pissed with all the research they had done for nothing.

Harry sensing Draco's mood pointed out that there was butterbeer in the fridge, which the blond took before sitting down on the armchair next to him.

"I think continuing this research is pointless Malfoy. There is just no way to break the contract. Our ancestors seem to have made sure of that." Harry started.

"What? You just want to give up?" Draco snapped. "Well, I'm not. I'm not gonna just stand by and watch as my only son will be forced to marry one of your kids."

"I'm not saying we'll force them to marry."

"So you want both of our families lose our magic then, Potter?" Draco drawled.

"No."

"Well, then what? There is no other way, Potter." Draco said tiredly.

"Well, there is kinda… Not to break the contract but…"

"What are you on about Potter?" Draco sighed taking a sip from his butterbeer.

Harry hesitated for a moment before thinking _"Just screw it all, better get this over and done with" _and said:

"Draco Malfoy, will you marry me?" he asked the blond, who spit out the butterbeer he was drinking and gaped at him in a very unMalfoyish way.

"Wha-?!" He exclaimed. "Potter, are you drunk?"

"No, I'm not." Harry said holding up his hand as Draco was about to start arguing. "Just listen to me for a moment Malfoy, please." He said and something in his voice made Draco shut his mouth and let him speak.

"The marriage contract is between Potter and Malfoy, but it doesn't mean it has to be our kids that have to marry. You said it yourself, the contract doesn't say who marries who as long as they are a Potter and a Malfoy by blood." Harry said and Draco's eyes widened slightly, he hadn't thought about that.

"Like we have already established," Harry continued. "Our kids won't ever forgive us if we force them to marry each other and I'm suggesting that we won't even try. We are both single and gay, Malfoy, so it won't be that big of a deal for us to consummate the marriage than it would be for Albus and Scorpius for example, who think of each other as brothers, not to mention the fact that only one of them is gay."

"And you think it would be better if _we_ were to marry?" Draco asked incredulously. "We hate each other!"

"I don't know about you, Malfoy, but I've never hated you. Besides you didn't let me finish." Harry said gathering his thoughts. "I know, that we didn't like each other at school, but we get along well enough nowadays and the little I actually know about you, Malfoy, is that you care about your son and don't want him to end up in an unhappy marriage, just like I don't want to see my kids in a situation like that. Our marriage would be just like your and Astoria's – a necessity."

"Except I can't get rid of you." Draco muttered.

"You don't need to worry about that Malfoy; you'll get rid of me in less than a year." Harry said and there was an edge in his voice that bothered Draco.

"What are you talking about Potter? Marriages contracts are for life. I'd be stuck with you for the rest of our lives." Draco sneered. "Or are you planning to kill me already?"

"Exactly." Harry said ignoring Draco's last comment. "We'll be stuck with each other till one of us dies and as the luck would have it, at least for you, I have less than a year to live." Harry said and a deep silence fell upon them as Draco stared at the man who had once been his school rival. Potter was dying?

Draco didn't know how to react to that – what to think. How should he react? What did he care about if the Wonder boy was dying? It wasn't his concern. Except he did care. He had come to tolerate Potter while working with him the few times he had and now with the research, even like him. Harry was intelligent and witty and more Slytherin than Draco could ever have imagined. He finally saw where Albus had gotten his cunningness. Not to mention Harry was good looking.

_'__No, you did not just think about Harry – Potter like that." _He told himself._ 'I mean it's Potter! 'The same guy who just asked you to marry him…' 'Shut up!'_ Draco gave himself a mental shake and swallowed before turning his attention back to Harry – Potter.

"Why – What do you have?" He asked.

"Leukemia." Harry said calmly and Draco had to wonder how he could speak about his own death so unaffectedly. "It has been progressing for years, but I've had no symptoms till few months ago. They say I need a fitting bone marrow transplant urgently or I'm gonna be dead in a year. The healers are doing everything they can to find me a match, but it appears I have some kind of rare tissue type, which only a handful of people have in both Muggle and Magical world. Figures. I couldn't be normal even in that matter." Harry said a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Anyway, they gave me a year, give or take, if they can't find a match."

"Have – Have you told anyone?" Draco asked.

"Only you." Harry said.

"But, shouldn't you tell them… I mean one of them could be a match."

"Saint Mungos have records of them; none of them was a match." Harry said shaking his head. A short silence fell upon them again till Harry asked: "So will you do this? Marry me to save our children from an unhappy marriage?"

"I –I need to think about this." Draco said and Harry nodded.

"You know where to find me, Draco." Harry said before standing up and leaving the room while Draco stared at his retreating back.

He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Draco spent the whole next week thinking about the offer Potter laid out to him. Could he marry his old rival to save his son from marrying one of the Potter children? Even if it was for only a year. But then again, there was a chance, no matter how small, that the healers found him a match and Potter would survive. Draco would be stuck with him for the rest of their lives, which would be close to a hundred years with how old many wizards lived, especially powerful ones like him and Potter. Could he live with Potter? Draco didn't know the answer to that.

Having spent the past two months with Potter's company nearly every day, Draco had found out his image of Potter had been wrong all these years. He wasn't an arrogant attention seeker like Draco had previously thought. He was actually quite a good company. But nevertheless there was a lot of bad blood between them. Could they get past that and live together as a married couple?

Narcissa had of course noticed her son's anxious mood, but Draco had refused to tell her anything. This was a decision he needed to make for himself and he could not ask for his mother's help. Draco had however snuck into Hogwarts with the intention of speaking to his son, but had backed away the last minute seeing Scorpius talking with a girl from Ravenclaw. That moment had made up his mind. He couldn't force his son to marry anyone, like he had had to marry Astoria, but at least he had been able to divorce her after she provided him an heir. Scorpius wouldn't have that luxury; he would be stuck with one of the Potter children forever.

Draco's decision was made. Now he only needed to speak with Potter.

* * *

Harry sat by the fireplace of his London apartment, where he spent most of the year while all his kids were at school, drinking tea and wondering how he could tell his kids about his illness. He had yet to tell even Ginny about it as he wanted to wait for Malfoy's answer, so he'd know how to go from there. It had been a week since he had proposed to Malfoy and thought that the blond would contact him any day now.

Just as Harry thought about it, Kreacher popped in and said:

"Mister Draco Malfoy is asking to see Master."

"Let him in, Kreacher." Harry said and stood up.

Few seconds later Malfoy entered the living room looking groomed as always.

"Potter." He nodded in greeting.

"Malfoy." Harry said and nodded towards the chair. "Firewhiskey?"

"Please." Malfoy said and Harry poured him a glass.

"So, have you made your decision?" Harry asked as he sat down.

"I have." Malfoy said. "I accept."

Harry nodded feeling a bit relieved.

"I think we should discuss the terms." He said and Malfoy nodded.

"I won't give up the Malfoy name. I have worked hard to clean it up and drag it back from the mud Lucius got it into." Malfoy said.

"Fair enough." Harry nodded. "We'll take the name Potter-Malfoy." He said and Malfoy narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. "The Potter family is older so it will come first." Harry said.

"I know."

"I say our estates will stay as they are. Malfoy's will stay with you and pass on to Scorpius and Potter and Black will pass on to my kids."

"Agreed." Malfoy said.

"And then there are the living arrangements…"

"I'm guessing there's no way you will live in the Manor…" Malfoy said.

"You'd be right. That place doesn't exactly hold any good memories for me and it's so tainted with dark magic it suffocates me." Harry said and Malfoy nodded in understanding.

"Not my favorite place either, but it's a tradition of the old families to Head of house to live in the Manor, so…" Malfoy said.

"One that my family hasn't followed in many generations." Harry said with a small smile. "You shouldn't put so much value on the useless old traditions, Malfoy. As a Head of your family you have the right to make your own decisions regardless of what your ancestors have done."

Malfoy nodded. "So where are we going to live then?"

"I have ten properties of the Potter family and seven from the Blacks, I think we'll find a suitable place." Harry said. "I could take you to a few of them over the weekend."

"So when are we going to tell everyone about our… arrangement?" Malfoy asked not willing to call it an engagement.

"I think it's best if we just get over it as soon as possible. I don't know when my state is going to get worse, so I think it's best if we just get married as soon as we can."

"Agreed. We should tell the kids as soon as they get back home from Hogwarts. No use of delaying it." Malfoy said.

"Yes." Harry sighed. "I think I need to give Ginny the heads ups though. She needs to know so she can be there for the kids when… you know…" He trailed of and Malfoy nodded in understanding.

"I think it's best if we just a have a small ceremony with a couple of witnesses. No need to make it into a sodding circus."

"Yeah, been there done that, though the papers are bound to find out." Harry grimaced.

"I can just see the headlines: 'The-Man-Who-Defeated marries a former Death Eater'." Malfoy sneered.

"Shut up." Harry said rolling his eyes. "I think we should just contact the Daily Prophet a few days before our wedding and get over it. At least then we can control what they write."

Malfoy nodded.

"Well, I think that's it for now. We can discuss the details later after we have spoken with the kids…" Malfoy said downing his Firewhiskey and standing up.

"Yeah. I will see you on Wednesday then at the Platform." Harry said and Malfoy nodded his agreement before walking out.

Harry sat back down closing his eyes tiredly. Now he only needed to talk with Ginny.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought!**

**And Happy Easter Everyone!**

**\- Dalnim**


	6. Telling the family

**A/N: Thank you for amazing reviews! Here's the next chapter, hope you like it!**

* * *

Draco woke up the next day to his personal house-elf's high-pitched voice.

"Dante is sorry, Master Draco, but Mister Zabini is wanting to see Master." He said.

"Lead him to the living room." Draco said burying his head into his pillow.

Groaning he dragged himself out of the bed, took a quick shower and dressed before leaving to meet Blaise in the living room.

"What do you want, Zabini?" He groaned slumping tiredly into the chair opposite of the one Blaise was sitting in.

"Long night, Draco?" Blaise asked amused.

Draco just nodded. It had been nearly midnight when he got home from Potter's apartment and he had had to look over some papers before he went to sleep. Thank Merlin it was Sunday.

"You work too much. You should go out more often." Blaise said shaking his head.

"Don't have time." Draco said. He was always working on a new case and now with all the research he had made with Potter he hadn't had time to do anything else.

"I haven't seen you in months, what've you been doing?" Blaise asked.

Draco regarded his best friend for a moment pondering whether he could tell him about the contract with Potter or not. Blaise had always been a good friend and had tried to tell Draco not to follow his father and take the Mark, but Draco hadn't listened to him. Blaise himself had stayed neutral as his mother didn't much care about anything else than marrying as many rich men as possible and then killing them so she could get their money, and so had not joined the Dark Lord. Deciding he could tell him as Potter was going to tell Weaslette too, he summoned his copy of the contract.

"I've been researching ways to get out of Betrothal contracts." He said and Blaise raised his eyebrows.

"A Betrothal contract? With whom?" He asked.

Draco handed the parchment to Blaise who read through it his eyes widening.

"You have a contract with Potter!" He exclaimed.

"No need to tell the whole world." Draco muttered.

"What are you going to do? I know Scorpius is friends with Potter's kids, but to force them to marry?" Blaise said. "Did you find a way around it?"

"No, unfortunately not." Draco sighed.

"So Scorpius has to marry one of Potter's kids?"

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not gonna force him to marry anyone. I can't do that to him."

"But then…"

"The contract doesn't say it has to be the kids who need to marry." Draco said and Blaise looked at him confused for a moment before his face cleared and he gaped at him.

"You're gonna marry Potter!?" He exclaimed. "But- But, you hate each other!"

"It's not like I have much of a choice." Draco said. "And I don't hate Potter, I just… dislike him?"

"Seriously, Draco. You think you can live with Potter for the rest of your lives?" Blaise asked.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna have to, am I not?" Draco said not willing to say anything about Potter's illness. It wasn't his secret to tell. "Besides, I have found he's not _that_ bad."

"Oh?" Blaise said cocking his eyebrow inquiringly.

"I've been researching the contract with him for the past three months and worked with him in a few cases." Draco shrugged. "We get along well enough…"

"Wow. Just wow. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter are finally getting along. And well enough to get married." Blaise said shaking his head in disbelief and Draco glared at him.

"Well at least he's good looking and amazing in bed." He continued with a wistful smile.

"And you would know that, how?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I had a summer fling with him after the war." Blaise said dismissively.

"You what?!" Draco exclaimed. "And you didn't tell me!"

"Well, it's not like you tell me of every one of your flings." Blaise defended.

"But it's Potter!"

"So?" Blaise said. "You know I always thought he was cute."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Why the hell would Potter sleep with you?" He frowned. "Wasn't he dating Weaslette back then?"

"He was just experimenting. We met at a Muggle bar a week before the start of the 'eight year' and got talking and drinking and then one thing led to another… Merlin, he's amazing in bed. He's the best shag I've ever had, both men and women included. And the things he can do with that mouth of his… I think it's because he's a Parselmouth – so hot… " Blaise said dreamingly. "I would have never believed he was virgin, had he not told me. He was so good… Anyway, we met a few times that week for a shag and then parted ways. I went back to Hogwarts and Potter to Auror training. We kept in touch, but just as friends and are pretty good friends now." He shrugged. "And what comes to Weaslette, I think she knew. Potter was definitely gay, but for some reason he married her a few years after that. I always thought it was to provide an heir, but then they stayed together for a long time and had three kids, so I wouldn't know."

Draco gaped at his best friend not believing what he had just heard. Blaise had taken Potter's virginity? They were still friends? How the hell Draco had not known about this?

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Draco said.

Blaise shrugged. "You were having your own circus with Greengrass and we didn't meet that often. I just forgot about it more or less."

"And you're still friends with Potter?"

"Sure, we meet up from time to time for a drink or something."

"And you didn't tell me this either. I'm supposed to be your best friend."

"I didn't think it would make any difference. It's not like we could go out the three of us with you two being at each other's throats all the time. Besides, I always thought you hated him. Potter's a good bloke. Easy to get along with and he's more Slytherin than you think."

"I know." Draco mumbled.

"Maybe now that you two get married we can go out together." Blaise said jovially.

"Argh, whatever." Draco said rubbing his face into his hands.

"Anyway, I gotta go I'm having lunch with _dear_ mother." Blaise said standing up.

"See you later then." Draco said waving his hand as Blaise started walking out of the room.

"Oh, and I call for best man!" He yelled before disappearing from sight. Draco groaned and closed his eyes trying to get rid of the image of his best friend going at it with Potter.

_'__Damn Blaise.'_

* * *

Harry stood in the Platform 9¾ with Ginny waiting for the train to arrive. Like one could expect Ginny had been horrified to find out about Harry's disease and about the Marriage contract, but had accepted Harry's decisions and supported him. She had wanted to tell everyone about his illness, but Harry had managed to convince her to wait as he didn't want to worry people and wanted to tell the children first so that he could tell them himself.

Surprisingly though, she hadn't been at all shocked by his decision to marry Draco, and Harry somehow got the feeling that she was very much looking forward to it. Trying to question her hadn't been much help though, as she had only smirked at him, refusing to explain why she was so happy about it. Too happy, in fact, and Harry found it very disconcerting. But then again, he reckoned, sometimes it was better not to know what went on in his best friend's head – he knew that from experience.

They could already see the train coming when Malfoy joined them with a brief nod of greeting. Harry thought for a moment that Malfoy looked at him oddly, but couldn't question him as the train arrived and kids were coming out to greet their parents. A few minutes later they spotted James' messy dark-red head followed by Albus' black, Scorpius' blond and Lily's bright red.

"Mum! Dad!" They yelled and rushed to greet their parents.

"How was the trip?" Harry asked them and soon they were all telling about what they did on the train ride and who hexed who.

"Where are we going, Dad?" James asked as they walked away from the crowd and Harry pulled out a Portkey.

"We'll spend the summer in Potter Manor." Harry said. "Malfoy and Scorpius will be joining us for dinner. There's something we need to speak to you all about. But that can wait for now. Everyone take hold." He said and everyone complied.

A few moments later they were standing in the Hall of Potter Manor.

"Kids go put your trunks into your rooms and meet us in the dining room in ten minutes, Winky has prepared us dinner." Harry said and walked to the living room with Ginny and Malfoy on his heels and poured himself a glass of Firewhiskey, which he downed in one go.

"You okay, Harry?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"I'm fine Gin. Just... worried."

They heard the children thundering down the stairs and moved to the dining room where Winky had set up a table. As all had seated themselves they started to eat.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Albus asked.

"It can wait after we have eaten." Harry said smiling slightly at his son, who looked so much like him. "For now I want to hear all about your school years." He continued and the children started happily chattering about their adventures at school. Harry watched them with a fond smile with a hint of sadness on his face, thinking that this could be the last time he would see them all together like that.

As he watched the children, he did not notice that someone was watching him.

* * *

Draco listened to the children chatter and watched as Potter interacted with them. He was really good with children. He saw the longing look on those emerald eyes as they watched his children looking so happy and careless. Draco could easily tell what he was thinking and felt the urge to go comfort the raven-haired man, but shook the feeling off. He was just feeling sorry for a dying man, nothing else.

Draco felt Scorpius looking at him questioningly and subtly shook his head. He would speak with his son later in private.

The dinner quickly ended and the group of them moved into the living room where the adults sat on the couch opposite the kids.

"Now, you know how I told you I was cleaning the other houses we have here in England." Potter started and the kids nodded. "Well, I was in the Potter Castle a few months ago when I found this." He continued and handed the parchment to the kids.

"What is it dad?" Lily asked trying to read over Albus' shoulder to see what it was.

"Is this valid?" James, who held the contract in his hands, asked his face paling.

"Yes it is." Harry said. "It is a Betrothal contract between the Potter and Malfoy families." Potter said to clarify for Lily and Scorpius who hadn't been able to read it.

"You mean one of us has to marry Scorpius?" Lily gasped.

"And as I'm the oldest it falls to me." James said tonelessly.

"Potter and I have searched for months to find a way out of it, but unfortunately there is none." Draco said and James paled even more and Scorpius didn't look very happy either.

"However, neither of us wants to force you to marry each other. And will not do so." Potter stepped in.

"So we're gonna lose our magic?" Albus half stated half asked.

"No. Malfoy and I have come to an agreement that we will marry each other to spare you from having to do it." Potter stated and a deep silence fell upon them as the children stared at their fathers in disbelief.

"But, you hate each other!" Lily said breaking the silence.

"Why does everyone always assume that?" Draco mumbled.

"Maybe because we are always throwing insults at each other." Potter said dryly.

"Touché." Draco said with a smirk.

Potter shook his head and turned to his daughter. "No Lils, Malfoy and I don't hate each other. We just…don't get along most of the time." He said with a slight grimace. "But after having to work together, we have come to… tolerate each other."

"But enough to get married?" James asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice…" Draco said and the kids nodded.

"So, you're really going to do this?" Albus asked. "Spend the rest of your lives together."

Draco looked at Potter who grimaced slightly as he said:

"About that… There's something else I need to tell you…" Potter took a deep breath. "A few months ago I was diagnosed with Leukemia." He said and the kids paled.

"But… it's curable, right?" Albus said anxiously.

"Yes it is, normally. It can be cured with a bone marrow transplant, but in my case, my tissue type is extremely rare and can be found in only a handful of people in the whole world. The healers are doing everything they can to find me a match, but… frankly it's not looking good." Harry said.

"So… you're d-dying." Lily asked tears running down her cheeks and all Harry could do was to nod. Draco watched as the red-haired girl shot out from the sofa to his father's arms and hugged him so tightly that she probably broke few of his ribs, the boys soon following. He glanced at the Weaslette, who too had tears running down her cheeks, before shifting his gaze to Scorpius, who was watching the Potter family sadly. Draco caught his eye for a moment and nodded to his side, deciding it was best to give them some privacy.

The walked in silence to the next room till Scorpius spoke:

"So, you're gonna marry Albus' dad."

"Yes." Draco said studying his son's features. "Are you alright with that?"

"I – I want you to be happy Dad." Scorpius said. "You have been alone too long, but I'm not sure if Mr. Potter is the one for you. Especially if there's a chance he will die soon. I like Mr. Potter, he's cool and easy to talk to, but I don't want you to get hurt, Dad."

"What-?" Draco asked confused. He didn't understand what his son meant by him getting hurt.

"I don't want you to get attached to him. I know you have some feelings for him already, you like him, but what will happen when he dies? You will be alone again and heartbroken." Scorpius said.

"I do not have feelings for Potter!" Draco hissed quietly. Where did his son get these ideas into his head?

"Don't deny it, Dad. I know you better than that." Scorpius said pointedly. "I see it in the way you look at him. You like him. That's why you're always ranting about him. There's a fine line between hatred and love, Dad."

Draco just gaped at his son. He did certainly not like Potter, did he? Sure Potter was good looking; Draco wasn't blind after all, but to like him? No. There was no way.

"I think we should get back to the living room." Draco said turning away from his son, who grasped at him by his arm, forcing him to face him.

"I have nothing against your marriage with Mr. Potter, but… just be careful, Dad." He said and walked off leaving Draco to stare after him.

No, Draco would not fall for Potter. There was no way.

* * *

Back in the living room Harry was almost suffocated by his kids who were hugging the living daylight out of him.

"It's gonna be okay." He comforted his crying children.

"How can it be okay, if you're dying?!" Lily asked untangling herself from his arms.

"There is still hope, Lils." Harry tried.

"You don't believe that even yourself, do you?" Albus accused, his emerald eyes glinting with tears.

Harry didn't know how to answer to that.

"Can't we be tested, Dad? We could have a fitting bone marrow for you." James said.

"Saint Mungo's have all of your records; none of you were a match." Harry said sadly.

"There must be something we can do!" Albus exclaimed.

"I have been visiting the hospital every week and they give me some medicine to slow down the illness and down the symptoms." Harry said.

"What are the symptoms?" James asked.

"Just tiredness mostly…" Harry said dismissively.

"Is that why you wear glamour?" Albus asked taking out his wand. "Finite." He said and Harry closed his eyes as he felt the spell leave his face. Damn, he should have remembered Albus could see he had glamour on. The boy had always been tuned with magic ever since he was little and could detect it very well.

He heard Ginny gasp as she hadn't known he had been wearing glamour for some time. Harry opened his eyes and saw his family looking at him with sad eyes. He knew he looked bad. He was very pale and had dark circles around his eyes as he hadn't been able to sleep well at nights.

"Oh my God, Harry, you didn't tell me it was this bad." Ginny said.

"I didn't want to worry you." Harry mumbled.

"You don't need to go through this alone, Daddy." Lily said gently. "We are here for you to help you get better." She said and Harry hugged her tightly feeling his eyes get filled with tears.

"I know, Princess. I know."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**\- Dalnim**


	7. Conversations

**A/N: Thanks for reviews! Here's the next chapter for you. It's a bit longer than the previous ones, mainly because It's highly possible that I'll not be able to post next week because I have so much stuff to do, but I will definitely update the week after that! Anyways, here we have some more info regarding Harry and Ginny's relationship, some Harry angst and the Potter family ganging up on Draco who is being... well, Draco. Hope you like it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The rest of the day was spent discussing the terms of the marriage more clearly – which basically meant that Harry and Draco went on arguing about every little thing possible.

"—really Malfoy, there's no point dragging it on…"

"—you don't order me around Potter…"

The children and Ginny had been watching the pair for half an hour now as they argued about the time when the Malfoys would move in to the Manor. Draco was of the mind that they should wait a couple of weeks, but Harry thought it would be best to just get it out of the way.

Meanwhile, Ginny was having flashbacks of their time at Hogwarts when Harry and Draco exchanged insults.

"Nothing's changed really." She told the kids. "They have always fought like a married couple. Now they're just going to have some brilliant make-up-sex." She continued dreamily.

"Mum!" The kids exclaimed.

"This is Dad we're talking about here, please!" Albus said shaking his head, trying to get rid of the mental image.

"Oh, sorry kids." Ginny said sheepishly, though one could see a mischievous spark in her eyes.

"I think they're kinda cute." Lily giggled glancing at her dad and Draco arguing.

"You would think that Lils." James said rolling his eyes.

"Are you okay with this, Mum? I mean, you always said you still loved Dad." Albus asked concernedly.

"I am." Ginny said smiling. "There are different kinds of loves, Albus. There's sibling love, romantic love and just love between best friends and family members. I was in love with your father for a very long time, I admit; even before I had ever met him. Your grandma and granddad told me a lot of stories about the Boy-Who-Lived when I was little and I developed a huge crush on him. When I then actually met him, he was just like I had been told he would be; kind and brave and polite. I of course couldn't even stay in the same room with him without blushing or doing something embarrassing." Ginny laughed. "And then he saved me from the Chamber in my first year. My crush just deepened.

"Harry never noticed me, you know as a person of my own, just as his best friend's little sister and my behavior didn't really help at all with that. Then I spoke with your Aunt Hermione who told me to just let him be and date some other guys and maybe Harry would notice me after that." She continued. "That was when I realized that the crush I had, it wasn't for Harry, it was for the image, The-Boy-Who-Lived, my parents had told me about. So I took Hermione's advice and went out with other guys and actually got to know Harry and not just the image I had of him. I found out he was just a normal boy, whose parents had died for him, saving him and that was the reason he was famous. But that didn't make me like him any less, it just made my feelings grow stronger, but this time they were for Harry and not the image. And the when he kissed me on my fifth year, I was sold.

"I loved your dad and waited for him through the war, but when it finally ended we were no longer the same people we once were. We got back together, but it was more because it was expected from us than for other reasons. Nevertheless we did." Ginny continued. "My feelings had never changed for your Dad during the war, but after a few weeks, I noticed your Dad wasn't as enthusiastic as before and I started suspecting his preferences lay elsewhere, but I let it be.

"Then two months after the end of the war Harry pulled me aside and told me he thought he was gay. I was surprised, not because of the gay part as I had suspected that, but because he was actually willingly talking about it to me. Your Dad was never good with talking about his feelings and the emotional stuff and there he was telling me he thought he was gay and I didn't even have to get it out of him. I told him of my suspicious and he told me he was sorry and that he needed to figure it out before going anywhere with me and I understood that. I was a bit sad of course, but I also realized that Harry had had no time to think about things like that. Things like normal teenagers did. He had a madman after him and with everything that happened during his school years, it was no wonder he was confused. So I let him go.

"We decided not to tell anyone about our break up as I knew that had we told them, they would be constantly harassing us for reasons and Harry didn't need that. He needed to figure things out himself so we kept it as a secret. Then it was a few days before the start of 'eight year' when he came to me and told me he was sure he was gay. I told him that I still loved him, but that I would accept his decision.

"And I was going to too, but then your dad mentioned that he was sad that he would never be able to have children of his own, I made him a suggestion. I knew that the very thing Harry had always wanted in life was a family and that while he could adopt a child, he needed a child of his blood to be his heir and with Harry being the Head of two old families, I suggested that I could give birth to his children. He looked at me like I was mad until I explained it to him that it wasn't that uncommon thing to do in the wizarding world. He thought about it for some time until he agreed. He knew that he couldn't come out of the closet, so to speak, when the war had just ended and reporters were chasing after him and had always wanted a family so it was a good arrangement. We did however decide to wait till I finished school to actually decide if we both still wanted to go through with it. So I finished school, we met up again and decided that it was something we both wanted.

"Our plan did get delayed a bit though, because I was drafted for the Holy Harpies after school, and so I was twenty four when I finally got James. I had played for the Harpies for six years and secured my place there so we could finally start a family. We of course had to get married first as your grandma would have killed us if we hadn't, but we agreed that we would get divorced when you kids were old enough. During all this time my feelings for your Dad stayed the same, until I found myself attracted to one guy when Albus was like six-months old. I told Harry about it and he of course was happy for me, but then we found out I was pregnant with Lils so we didn't get divorced yet.

"After that though, my feelings for your Dad changed. I still love him, but not romantically anymore. We are each other's best friends. We can talk to each other about everything. We love each other as family and want the other to be happy and I think Draco could make your Dad very happy, if they both just stopped going on defense every time they're in the same room." She finished.

"Do you ever regret it?" Albus asked. "Your… arrangement with Dad."

"No." Ginny said. "I got three brilliant kids out of it and Harry's my best friend. I'm happy I did it. I truly am. Who knows, had I not done it I may still think I'm in love with him and that would be painful."

The kids nodded.

"What about Dad? Does he regret it? I mean he was with you for over a decade." Lily asked. "He could have found someone to live with. Get married and have some other family."

"No he doesn't. He loves you three more than anything. And Harry would have probably not found the right person. Back then everyone wanted to be with the Boy-Who-Defeated. I think he would've only gotten hurt. Besides it was our mutual decision to wait for a few years to have you and then stay together till you were old enough. We wanted you to have both your parents when you grew up and not just joined custody when you'd be with me every other weekend and then with your Dad the rest. That's why we still lived together even after our divorce. And I actually gave your Dad permission when we were dating and even during our marriage to, you know, go out and meet some guys if he needed as long as it didn't get out as my parents would've killed him. But I don't think he ever did." Ginny said.

"Dad doesn't really do anything the normal way, does he?" James laughed.

"No I don't." Harry said making them jump. "Normalcy is overrated." He said ruffling James' hair. "Now what are you gossiping here?"

"I was just telling the kids about our arrangement." Ginny said smiling.

"Oh, well I have to agree with you then, there wasn't much normalcy in that." Harry grinned and the others laughed. "So Gin, are you staying here with us for the summer?"

"For the first month and a half I am. Then I need to go to the training camp again, though I think I have a few meetings during my vacation too." Ginny said and Harry nodded.

"Malfoy and I agreed that he and Scorpius are moving here during these next couple of days, you know, to see if we can actually live in the same house and get to know each other better." Harry said. "That cool with all of you?" He asked and got four nods.

"You actually agreed to something with _Draco_." Ginny laughed emphasizing the name. Honestly, the two were getting married in the near future and couldn't even call each other by their names.

"It's not my fault he's such a git." Harry said folding his arms and pouting childishly making the kids laugh.

"Who are you calling a git, Potter?" Draco's voice said behind him and Harry froze.

"No one, Draco dear." Harry said meekly making Malfoy glare at him.

"Anyway we're heading back to the Manor to get some stuff and I need to inform my mother of the contract." Malfoy said and Harry grimaced. He had clearly forgotten he needed to meet Narcissa at some point. "I will see you later." He said before leaving with Scorpius on his heels.

"You're gonna be just the perfect couple." Ginny said.

"Ah, shut up Gin."

* * *

The day had been very exhausting for everyone so it was no wonder they all went to bed early. Harry had managed to convince Draco to start their move into the Potter Manor the next day as there was no point in Scorpius unpacking his stuff back in the Malfoy Manor only to pack it up again in a few days. Scorpius was honestly glad to leave the Malfoy Manor as he too had felt the Dark magic that resided there and felt uneasy because of it and then there was the plus that he got to live with his best friend.

Draco didn't truly mind the sudden move either, glad to be out of the Manor where many unpleasant memories haunted him. Potter was right, he as a Head of family had the right to decide what traditions he followed and what not. He only hoped he had done that ages ago – the Manor wasn't the best environment for Scorpius to grow up.

His mother of course had been sad to see them go, but Draco and Scorpius had promised to visit her often. Otherwise she had been surprisingly supporting of the marriage even though Draco hadn't mentioned Potter's illness to her.

Now however, Harry lied on his bed unable to sleep as he kept thinking about his children. They were all so grown up now. James would be starting to work, Albus would go to his last year at Hogwarts and Lily too was turning sixteen already. Where had the time gone? Just yesterday they were little kids running around the house and making noise and now they were all grown up and independent. They didn't need their parents anymore.

Didn't need him.

_'__I should be glad, shouldn't I?' _Harry thought. _'It will be easier for them when I'm gone. I should be grateful that I got to live this long and see them grow up.'_ He told himself. But he wasn't. Well, he was, but it just wasn't enough.

Sighing Harry sat up holding his head as the dizziness passed before standing up and exiting the room in order to find his eldest son. He found him in his room writing a letter to – Harry guessed – Alice, with a frown on his face.

"Hi." He said as he entered the room after knocking quietly. "Bad time?"

"No." James said putting the letter down. "I was just writing to Alice. So what's up?"

"Nothing really." Harry said flopping down on the bed. "I just… we didn't really have time to chat properly earlier." He continued looking at his hands before turning to face his son. "I'm sorry I had to… drop the bomb, so to speak, today. I mean it's your graduation day, we should be celebrating and not… well, you know. I wanted to wait before telling you at least to tomorrow, but your mum insisted that I tell you right away."

"It's okay Dad. I'm glad you told us." James said. "Besides we partied plenty enough at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded with a faint smile.

"So have you decided what you're gonna do now that school's over?" He asked.

"Err… well; I actually received a letter from Uncle Bill saying that I've been accepted to the curse breaking –program at Gringotts. I would be working under him and his team." James said with a faint smile.

"Really?! When do you start?"

"Next month."

"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed hugging his son. "I'm so proud of you son." He smiled, but noticed that James' smile was half-hearted at best. "What's wrong James? I thought it was your dream to be a curse breaker like Bill."

"It is…but I..." James mumbled.

"It's Alice isn't it?" Harry asked knowingly. "You don't want to leave her behind and curse breakers travel all the time."

"No, Alice got actually accepted as well. She's going to study to be a curse breaker like me, but also a field healer. We got into the same team." James said his face lighting up as he spoke about her.

"That's great!" Harry smiled happily. "How is it going between you two anyway? You've been together nearly three years now."

"We're good." James smiled a full smile now.

"You thinking of putting a ring on her finger yet?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Well, I have actually thought about it…" James blushed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I – well… I love her Dad and I want to marry her, but then I thought that we're still kinda young and what if she doesn't really love me like you didn't love mum, but you thought you did and…"

"James, son calm down." Harry said trying to calm him down. "Yes you're still young, but don't ever doubt the love between you and Alice. That girl loves you with all her heart and I can see that you love her as well. Your mother and my marriage, well, I guess you could say it was like a business arrangement. We both knew that I wasn't in love with her when we married, but everyone can see that you and Alice love each other." Harry said. "There's no hurry for you to get married yet, you have all the time in the world, but if it feels right then go for it."

James nodded mutely.

"Now about the job, why do you hesitate to take it?"

"I, well, I just… We travel so much and I don't want to leave when you…" James mumbled not looking at his father and suddenly it dawned on Harry why James was so indecisive.

His illness.

"Oh James." He said embracing his son tightly. "It's me, isn't it? My illness is the reason you hesitate to take the job." Harry felt James nod against his shoulder. "You can't put your life on hold just because I'm ill, Jamie." He said using the nickname he used when James was little.

"But what if something happens when I'm away? What if you d-die, when I'm on an assignment?" James cried. "I don't want you to die Dad. You can't die. We need you to live. I need you. I don't know how to be a Head of a family. I need you to be there for me when I need to talk or ask questions or just rant about girls because I don't understand them." James said with a watery laugh. "We need you to be there to scare off all girls and boys that try to date Lily and calm Mum down when she blows up because we colored her hair neon blue just before her big game again. We need you here to listen to Albus go on and on about the latest book he read and to interpret his Slytherin references that nobody else understands. We need you to be there when we get married so that you can give Lily away and keep Albus and me from panicking and running off. We need you here Dad for every little thing that happens in our lives."

By now Harry too was crying and he realized that James was right. Just because children grew up it didn't mean they stopped needing their parents.

"I pray to Merlin that I will be there for every moment in your lives, James, but if I'm not, then I'll be somewhere with your grandparents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and your Uncle Fred watching over you. I'm not afraid of Death, James. And when my time comes I will welcome it because then I will finally get know my parents and see everyone that died so many years ago. But even when I'm with them, I will always be there for you in your hearts. You can still talk to me and rant about girls and I will hear you even though I won't be able to answer you." Harry said wiping his tears. "But still, I will do everything in my power to live and not succumb to my illness, I promise you that. Who knows, maybe there is something still left of the Potter luck and I will manage to escape Death yet again. But whatever happens, James, I want you to continue living your life."

James wiped his tears and nodded.

"Now enough of this." Harry said. "How about a game of one on one Quidditch?"

"It's past midnight Dad." James chuckled.

"And when has that stopped us?" Harry smirked conjuring a snitch. "But of course I understand if you're too afraid to play against your old man. I was the youngest Seeker of the century after all…"

"In your dreams, Pops." James grinned and snatched the snitch from his hand.

"I love you James."

"I love you too Dad."

"Now let the game begin."

* * *

Next morning all seven of them gathered into the dining room for breakfast. Harry and James were the last to arrive and Draco couldn't help but wonder why Potter and his eldest looked dead on their feet, but were grinning like idiots. All the others, however, seemed to know what it was all about – even Scorpius – and were shaking their heads in amusement, well, all apart from Weaslette who looked disapproving, though she too was clearly suppressing a smile.

"You two, straight to bed after breakfast." Weaslette said sternly pointing at them with a fork and the two nodded at her sheepishly before starting to eat.

"So who won?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Dad won the first two, but I caught it in the end." James said a bit sullenly.

"And that too was only because I was getting tired." Harry said grinning.

"Yeah, right. You didn't even see it till I had it in my hand, old man." James retorted, but Harry just ruffled his hair and said:

"Whatever you say, Jamie."

James huffed, but was too tired to start arguing, so he let it go.

Meanwhile Scorpius, Draco and Albus had finished their breakfast and moved to the living room. Scorpius had noticed his father's confusion and was explaining to Draco what everyone was talking about.

"They played Quidditch last night." He said. "It's like a tradition. They used to sneak off in the middle of the night to play Seeker matches. Al and I sometimes joined them when I was here, but were no match for either of them. Mr. Potter is brilliant on broom! It's too bad he didn't play professional…"

"He did, actually." Albus joined in and Draco noticed that the three of them were alone in the room.

"What?!" Scorpius exclaimed. "And you didn't tell me! In what team?"

Draco rolled his eyes at his son. He was so obsessed with Quidditch. But Draco too was curious to know where Potter had played professionally. Surely he would have heard about that.

"Nowhere in particular. He's like a reserve player for every team. If their Seeker can't play, they call upon Dad." Albus explained.

"How come I haven't heard about this?" Scorpius asked. "I mean the papers usually print everything your dad does and this is _huge_!"

"I'm pretty sure you have heard about it." Albus said grinning. "In fact you have even seen him play. Remember the World Cup two years ago? France won the game by ten points because their Seeker caught the snitch just in time after eight hours of playing."

"You're saying…" Scorpius said his eyes wide as realization dawned on him. "Your dad is Evan LeNoir?!"

"Yep." Albus smirked.

"Merlin…" Scorpius said. "He's like the best Quidditch player in _forever_. He has never lost a game no matter where he played… How could you not tell me about this? I'm supposed to be your best friend!"

"Sorry Scor, but we weren't allowed to. Dad wanted to keep it just within the family and no one was allowed to tell anyone so that the papers wouldn't know. Dad didn't want any more attention than he gets already."

Draco snorted at that. The old jealousy and hatred towards Potter surfaced as he thought about it. Typical Potter. He should have known that the world famous Quidditch star would be Potter. Being the Wizarding world's savior and a famous Auror just wasn't enough for him. He needed even more attention through Quidditch.

"Didn't you just hear what Albus said?" The Weaslette's voice asked heatedly from the doorway and Draco realized he had spoken his thoughts out loud. "Harry didn't want it known because he _did not want_ any more attention."

Draco winced inwardly at her tone, knowing deep inside that she was right, but he would be damned if he agreed with the Weaslette, so he just stared at her defiantly.

"You don't really know him at all, do you?" Ginny asked looking at him almost pityingly.

Draco stood up and opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny cut him off.

"Sit down." She said and Draco was so shocked of her forceful tone that he found himself complying. "I'll be right back." She added before hurrying off.

Huffing Draco folded his arms. _'How dare the Weaslette to tell him what to do...She had no right…'_

"Children! Would you come here for a moment, please?" A shout came from the hallway and a few minutes later Draco could hear stumping as the kids descended the stairs. How come he had not noticed that Scorpius and Albus had left the room?

A few seconds later Weaslette re-entered the living room with the Potter kids plus Scorpius on her heels.

"What's up, Mum?" Lily asked plopping herself down on the free armchair as the boys took the couch. "Where's Dad?"

"He went to sleep." Ginny said. "I asked you here to tell Draco what kind of man your father is. He is under the impression that your father is – what did you once call him – pampered, spoiled and selfish brat, who loves his fame and all the attention he gets."

"Dad's not like that!" Lily exclaimed glaring at Draco. "He's the kindest and most caring person I know!"

"And he's never been spoiled or pampered." Albus piped in.

"Nor does he care about his fame or money." James said. "In fact, I don't think he hates anything more than the attention he gets."

"Yeah right." Draco snorted. "He's always signing autographs or giving advice to people or giving interviews even at work. You can't claim he doesn't enjoy being in the limelight."

Ginny shook her head. "The thing about Harry that you need to know Malfoy, is that he's too kind and too modest to tell the people or the press to just fuck off. He hates that every time he goes out he's being mauled by the press or people who want to speak to him because he has too many hyphenated names or thank him for offing Voldemort even though it's been over two decades since he died. Harry knows how important figure he is to them, or rather the image he presents to them – very few people know who 'just Harry' is.

"Anyway, the people get hope from 'The-boy-who-lived' or the 'Man-who-defeated' or whatever he's called nowadays. Harry knows that and accepts it even though he hates every second of it and would want nothing more than to be 'just Harry'."

"And Dad never lies if he can help it." Lily said.

"Yeah." Albus nodded in agreement. "Apart from his own health. He always says he's fine even when he's anything but."

"How much do you really know about Dad, Mr. Malfoy? James asked. "I mean really know and not just what you've made up yourself."

Draco shifted uncomfortably. What _did_ he really know about Potter?

"I know he lived with some relatives." He said a bit uncertainly and suddenly all occupants in the room tensed apart from Scorpius. "What? Hit a sore spot, did I? I always knew he was spoiled and pampered…"

"Dad, I think it's best if you just shut up now." Scorpius interrupted him, looking warily at the Potters and Weaslette, who looked livid.

Oh.

"Don't talk about things you know nothing about." Lily spat through her teeth.

Draco and Scorpius regarded the four of them warily as they exchanged glances, seemingly having a conversation.

"He should know, Dad's gonna marry him after all… And it's not like Dad's gonna ever tell him." Albus said finally and the others seemed to agree.

"Fine." Ginny said turning to look at Malfoy. "This does not leave this room Malfoy, are we clear?" She said forcefully and Draco gulped before nodding.

"Good. Now contrary to your belief Harry was not pampered like some bloody prince. In fact quite the opposite. We don't know much about it, since he doesn't like to talk about his childhood, but the little we do know is that he was neglected and abused by them." Ginny said and Draco paled.

"Ever since he was fifteen-months-old he lived in a small cupboard with locks on the door. Every day he was reminded what a worthless freak he was and he didn't even know his own name till he went to pre-school. He was treated worse than your father treated your house-elves. He was forced to do house chores and cooking ever since he was four and if he failed he was punished. He could go on days without food, locked up in the cupboard. They didn't tell him about magic although his aunt knew all about it, but severely punished him whenever he did accidental magic. They tried to prevent him from going to Hogwarts and it wasn't till Hagrid gave the letter to him personally on his eleventh birthday that he found out that he was a wizard and that his parents weren't some drunkards, who died in a car accident."

"Now can you imagine how overwhelming it is for an eleven-year-old boy, who all his live has been told he's worthless, to find out there's a new hidden world he's part of and that he's some celebrity, famous for something he can't possibly remember. Harry knew nothing of the fame or the money he owned and even after he found out, he didn't want it. He didn't feel like he deserved any of it, even now after killing Voldemort. He feels like he doesn't deserve any of the fame bestowed upon him and he doesn't want it, but he just has to deal with it. All Harry ever wanted was a family who loved him and I have done everything I could to give him that."

"Now next time you feel like insulting him for something like that, how about you think again, Malfoy." Ginny said before exciting the room with the kids on her heels.

Draco had a lot to think about.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought!**

**\- Dalnim**


	8. Boyfriends and Summer Plans

**A/N: Thanks for reviews and Happy Mayday everyone! Here's the next chapter for you. You get to see Harry play overprotective father and I hope it also clears up some of Draco's behavior last chapter. Anyways hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The first week of the summer holidays went by with everyone getting used to the new situation. Surprisingly though, they had easily fallen into a routine where Harry usually spent his time at home while Draco went to work every day and the kids came and went, along with Ginny, who had practices and meetings in odd days.

Being on a holiday with nothing productive to do, though, wasn't for Harry.

"I'm bored Gin." Harry whined leaning back on the kitchen chair.

"I don't care! Go play with Draco or something, as long as you stay out of here, I'm trying to cook you know." Ginny sighed.

"Why are you cooking anyway?" Harry asked.

"Lily is bringing her boyfriend today; I wanted to make an impression." Ginny said absentmindedly.

"Why would you need to make an impress…? Wait what?!" Harry exclaimed. "Lily is bringing some bloke home? Why wasn't I informed?!"

"She didn't tell you?" Ginny asked amused.

"No!"

"Oh well, now you know."

"Who is he?" Harry asked narrowing his eyes.

"I think his name was Alex."

"Surname?"

"Jones, if I remember correctly… Harry no, you're not gonna do a background check on him." Ginny said suddenly realizing what Harry was planning.

"You bet I am."

"No! Remember last time you did that? Lily wouldn't speak to you for a week after you scared her last boyfriend off." Ginny said.

"Good thing I did. He wasn't right for our daughter. He was too weak. Lily is too fierce and strong-willed person for someone like him, whatever his name was." Harry countered.

"Paul."

"Yeah, him. If he can't handle facing me, he won't be right for Lils."

"The kid was fourteen, Harry…"

"I flew against a dragon at fourteen." Harry commented but Ginny just ignored him and continued on:

"…And with you it's not _just_ facing the father of your girlfriend; it's facing the _Harry Potter, the Man-who-defeated-Voldemort_ etc. and the fact that you're the Head Auror. You're the world's hero; anyone would be intimidated by you."

"The only thing my tittles are good for – scaring away unfitting suitors for our kids."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Just give this one a chance, okay? From what I have heard, Lily likes him a lot." She begged.

"Fine, I'll try." Harry pouted. "But you can't deny my right to interrogate him of his intentions towards our daughter."

"Just be nice. He's not one of the criminals you interrogate at work." Ginny said as Harry stood up. "And this time no Auror robes!" She yelled after him.

"We'll see about that." He muttered as he walked out of the kitchen. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face at the thought of interrogating the boy. He needed to talk to Draco.

He headed up the stairs towards Draco's study and knocked sharply on the door before entering.

"Oi, Malfoy."

"What is it Potter?" Draco asked looking up from his papers.

"I need your help." Harry said. "Lily's bringing some bloke to dinner."

"And?" Draco drawled and Harry gave him a pointed look. "You want to interrogate him?" He asked a smirk forming on his face.

"Yes. But Gin said I need to tone it down as the last boyfriend Lily brought home I scared off."

"You did?" Draco chuckled.

"Yeah." Harry shrugged. "Good thing too… he was too weak and accommodative for Lils."

"You need to tell me about it sometime." Draco commented. "So what are you gonna wear? You can't possibly try to be intimidating in those clothes." He said looking at Harry's light blue jeans and a t-shirt.

"I know, that's why I came to you. You have more fashion sense than I have and Ginny does not exactly approve, so I can't ask her." Harry said.

"Hmm…" Draco hummed thoughtfully. "What did you wear last time, when the kid ran away?"

"I came straight from work so I had my Auror robes on."

"Well, that's out then." Draco commented standing up. "Let's see your wardrobe."

Harry led him to his room on the left wing and Draco walked straight away to his wardrobe.

"This is it?" He asked in disbelief, looking at the small pile of clothes Harry owned. There was a couple of outfits of Muggle clothing, and five robes; Auror robes, two everyday robes, dress robes and one set of battle robes.

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't need any more clothes."

Draco stared at him in disbelief and was suddenly reminded of the conversation about Harry's childhood. He hid a wince as he remembered what had led to that and his own behavior. He was still beating himself up for falling to the old habits that Lucius and the circumstances during his childhood had forced into him. He had sworn to himself after the war that he wouldn't be that asshole anymore – he wouldn't have to pretend anymore. But still it seemed that the old habits had been carved so deep that it wasn't so easy to get rid of them. Somehow Potter always managed to rub him the wrong way and revert him straight back to being fifteen. A matter, which was not helped by the fact, that he had always been jealous of Potter, not really knowing any better.

Thus, after the berating he had gotten from Ginny and the Potter children – rightly so, he could admit now – Draco had locked himself into his room for hours angry with himself and surprised by the information he had found out of his old rival. He had needed to go through his image of Potter again, this time trying to forget their past and see the man for himself and not what Draco had always thought of him. Having done that, Draco felt guilty. Sure he had felt guilty many times during their fights in their childhood, but back then he wasn't in the position to actually do that so he had pushed the feeling away like a good Malfoy. But now he could really think about what kind of cruel things he had done and said to Potter and his friends and he really felt ashamed of himself. Sure Potter gave back as much as he got and the man – or boy back then – had a temper, like _really_, but it didn't mean he had deserved any of it.

So, Draco decided that it was time to swallow his pride and actually apologize to Potter, maybe even get to know the man for real and not just the image. And maybe Potter could do the same for him, not see him just as his old school rival or the son of a Death Eater, but for the man he had become and deep down had always been.

And so he had sought Potter out and apologized. Potter had been surprised of course, but easily accepted and had apologized as well, something Draco had not expected. Draco had offered his hand again and this time Potter shook it with a bright smile on his face and that was that. They had both agreed to forget about what happened in the past and try to get to know each other for real, something which had lessened the tension around them a great deal, or well, changed into another kind of tension that Draco was not ready to think about.

They did still argue regularly though and often annoy the hell out of each other, that hadn't changed at all. Still, they were now acting in a manner that could be almost described as friendly, which was the main reason Draco was not annoyed with Potter for interrupting his work for a fashion advice. Well, that and the fact that watching Potter interrogate a possible suitor for his daughter, sounded like fun.

"You have all that money and you… I'm so taking you to shopping Potter." He said half serious.

"Ginny always complains about my wardrobe too." Harry said rolling his eyes.

Dismissing the simile about being like Weaslette, he continued:

"Well, there's nothing in here you can wear." He said. "Come with me."

Draco led them back to the right wing into his rooms and went straight to his wardrobe and picked up a few set of robes.

"Here, choose one of these. They are informal robes, but can still make you seem intimidating." He said and Harry looked at them. There were black one with silver lining, a brown one and an emerald green one. "I think you should try the green one, it brings out your eyes and makes you look more powerful." Not to mention sexy, but he wasn't going to tell him _that_.

Harry nodded putting the robe on, which fitted itself to fit him and looked at himself from the mirror. The robes were perfect. He looked powerful and intimidating without looking too formal for a normal family dinner.

"Perfect." Draco said. "Now, we need to do something about that hair." He said thoughtfully unconsciously moving closer to Harry. Without thinking he reached his hand and pushed it through Harry's hair, revealing the faded scar.

"You just need to keep your hair away from scar…" Draco trailed off waving his wand over his hair till he realized what he was doing and how close he was to Harry. He found himself looking into his deep emerald eyes and was mesmerized by their beauty. Unconsciously both of them started slowly leaning in but the spell was spoken by a loud crash outside in the corridor.

"Err, so that's it." Draco said clearing his throat as he stepped back. "The rest is up to you."

"Right, err… thanks." Harry said. "I'll see you at dinner then, Dra-Malfoy." He continued before fleeing the room. No, nothing happened. He hadn't been just seconds away from kissing Draco Malfoy. No, Draco was just helping him. That was all.

* * *

Later that day found Harry following his daughter on her heels as she greeted her boyfriend by the door. The boy clearly tensed as he caught the sight of him, but greeted him politely and without stuttering, which earned the boy points in Harry's book.

So far better than the last one.

"Just go help your mother in the kitchen." Harry said to his daughter. "Alex and I are just going to have a small chat." He continued looking innocent as Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"Play nice Dad." She said offering her nervous-looking boyfriend an encouraging smile before disappearing to the kitchen while Harry led Alex to the living room. Putting on his Auror mask, which he used in the interrogations, he sat down on one of the armchairs and gazed at the boy, who apparently thought himself worthy of dating his daughter.

Alex fidgeted under his gaze as he stood close to the door.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day?" Harry asked him finally, raising his eyebrow. "Sit." He said firmly and had to stifle a smirk as the boy reddened while he complied and sat down on the chair opposite him.

He was so enjoying this.

A silence fell upon them again.

"Erm… You have a lovely home, Mr. Potter." Alex said with a minimal stutter. Harry had to give points for the boy for courage. The last one hadn't been able to speak at all without stuttering.

Harry acknowledged the compliment with a curt nod and they fell silent again. Deciding he had let the boy suffer enough he asked:

"So, Alex. You're a fifth year at Hogwarts?"

"Yes sir." Alex said relaxing slightly. "I'm in Ravenclaw."

"A Ravenclaw?"

"Yes sir. My mother was one too."

"And what is your mother's name?"

"Megan Jones, sir." Alex said. "She was in your year, but was transferred into Beauxbatons in her second year when my grandparents moved to France."

"I see." Harry said. He vaguely remembered the boy's mother, but didn't think he had ever spoken to her.

"And your father?"

"Martin Blanc. He was a muggleborn my mum met back in France, but he died when I was little. I don't really remember him." Alex explained and Harry nodded. A half-blood then.

"And what makes you think you're good enough for my daughter?" Harry asked abruptly catching the boy off guard.

"I err… I… I don't know, Sir." The boy answered honestly not willing to look him in the eye.

Silence fell upon them again and Harry could see Alex start sweating.

"What are your plans for the future?"

"What?" The boy exclaimed surprised, his head snapping up and Harry almost burst out laughing at the look on his face. "I errr… I'm not sure. I was thinking of maybe being an Auror like my Dad was."

"It's a dangerous job. You'll make a lot of enemies. Your family will be in danger because of you." Harry commented wanting to see the boy's reaction. Alex wiped his sweaty hands on his robes and gulped. Harry could clearly see he was thinking what would be the best answer.

"I-I'm aware of that." He said.

Harry nodded narrowing his eyes.

"And what are your intentions towards my daughter? Are you going to marry her?"

"I-What?! A marriage? I, err, I don't… I mean, we are still young – only fifteen…"

"I was an army general at fifteen." Harry commented and Alex looked at him in disbelief clearly not knowing what to say to that.

"Come on Potter, leave the boy alone. He looks like he's gonna piss in his pants any minute now." Draco drawled entering the living room and pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

Letting his Auror mask fall Harry glared at him half-heartedly:

"Shut up Malfoy, you're ruining my fun." He said turning his gaze back to Alex, who was staring at him in astonishment. The look on the boy's face was so comical Harry couldn't keep it in anymore and burst out laughing with Draco following.

Alex looked at the laughing pair not knowing what to do.

After a few minutes Harry gathered himself and said:

"It's okay kid, I'm not expecting you to marry my daughter I was just playing you. In fact if you even think about asking her hand before she's well over seventeen, there will be consequences."

"Yes, sir." Alex said still not completely aware what was going on.

"Enough of that, call me Harry. 'Sir' makes me feel old." Harry said. "And congratulations you passed my test. The last boy Lily brought to see me fled before I was even halfway through my interrogation."

"I – err, thank you sir, err Harry." Alex said starting to feel slightly more at ease.

"Seriously though, you hurt my princess and I'll hunt you down and show you why not even Voldemort could get rid of me." Harry said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Yes, sir!" Alex said paling.

"Good." Harry said his face clearing. "Now you only need to get through Lily's brothers and you'll have a permission to date her." He commented jovially as Alex paled a bit more.

"Now, to more pleasant matters; do you like Quidditch?

* * *

The day after meeting Lily's boyfriend (whom Harry grudgingly approved) found the Potter/Malfoy families enjoying the Sunday afternoon's sun on the grounds of the Potter Manor. James, Albus and Scorpius were flying on the Quidditch pitch while Lily was sunbathing by the pool. Harry himself was sitting under his favorite tree and reading a book while Draco was going through his paperwork by the table nearby. Really it was a wonder they had managed to drag the blond outside to begin with, as he seemed to be working all the time. Talk about a workaholic…

"So, have you planned anything for this summer, Dad?" Lily asked suddenly and Harry bit back a smirk as a thought came to him.

"Well, I was thinking of spending a few weeks in Florida… maybe Disney World?" Harry commented offhandedly suppressing a grin as the kids' faces light up and his daughter squealed:

"Yes! Florida! And I love Disney World!" She said excitedly and Harry shook his head in amusement. Harry had taken them at least once a year to some amusement park and the kids even now older loved it. The Disney World though, was by far their favorite.

"That okay with you guys?" He asked the boys smiling and all of them nodded though James a bit hesitatingly. "Alice is welcome to come along if she wants to." He added to him guessing the reason and received a bright smile from his son. "Malfoy, you in?" Harry asked turning to Draco, who was ignoring all conversation around him in favor of working.

"What?" Draco drawled. "I, going to some dangerous Muggle… thing… in your dreams Potter. Besides, unlike some, I've got work to do."

"Come on Malfoy, it's summer; you don't need to work. Just tell your boss you're taking a vacation." Harry said stretching.

"I _am_ the boss, Potter." Draco sneered gritting his teeth as he put his quill down.

"Exactly my point." Harry said. "I think you're just scared of the _dangerous_ amusement park. Seriously, have you ever even seen one?"

"I'm not scared!" Draco snapped.

Winking discreetly at the kids Harry continued:

"It's okay Draco; it's okay to be scared. I mean, I remember when Lily was little, maybe three-years-old, when she first came with us to the Disney World and got scared by Mickey Mouse…" He trailed off.

"Fine." Draco gritted his teeth. "Whatever Potter. I'll come to the stupid Muggle – thing."

"Great! We're leaving tomorrow at 10 am sharp." Harry said jovially.

"Tomorrow?! I can't just take off and…" Draco started.

"Who was your boss again, Malfoy?" Harry asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Urgh." Draco huffed glaring at Harry before storming off.

"Better go pack, kids." Harry winked at the snickering children before leaving too back to the house. On his way he ran into Ginny who was shaking her head in amusement.

"You just love taking a rise out of him."

"Whatever do you mean, Ginny dearest?" Harry asked innocently, but Ginny just shook her head.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**So we have now reached the part which I haven't written already so it might take me a few weeks to post the next chapter. It is already partly written but with the end of the semester I have exams taking my time and not necessarily time to write. I'll do my best though to get the next chap for you as soon as possible! :)**

**Thanks,**

**\- Dalnim**


	9. Florida

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post this. I have been struggling with this chapter for a long time not really knowing what to write so it turned out to be more of a filler. Anyways, thanks for reviews and I hope you like the chapter even though it is a bit shortish. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The next morning ten o'clock sharp the seven of them gathered into the Hall of the Manor along with Alice Longbottom.

They took hold of the Portkey and were whisked away into a beautiful Beach house Harry owned in Florida.

"Okay, so there are only five bedrooms so some of us need to share… but luckily they're all pretty big apart from room Five…" Harry said. "Al and Scorp, you don't mind sharing, do you?" He asked the boys, who shook their heads. "Okay take room One. James and Alice can take room Two. Lily, do you mind sharing a room with your Mum?"

"Oh, Harry wait!" Ginny exclaimed. "I just got a letter from Oliver saying he's here in Florida. I was thinking of asking him to join us…"

"Sure, the more the merrier." Harry said. "Okay, so Ginny, you take room Three with Oliver and Lily you can have room Five, since it's the smallest. Malfoy and I can share room Four. Malfoy, you up for it?" He asked turning to look at the blond, who nodded, his face blank.

"Good. That's it then. Lunch will be served in a few hours. Now scatter!" Harry said and every disappeared to make themselves at home. "Come on, Malfoy, let's go see our room."

The two men went up the stairs and walked through the corridor till they reached the room Four. Harry opened the door and found a large room with a king-sized bed, balcony and own bathroom with a Jacuzzi.

"Looks like we're gonna have to share a bed." Harry commented.

"Potter, we're wizards. We can just transfigure another bed." Draco said rolling his eyes.

"You're welcome to try, Malfoy." Harry smirked and Draco frowned, but tried anyway.

Nothing happened.

"It's the house's magic. It doesn't let us to change anything. I don't know why, but it never has."

"Fine." Draco huffed and put his wand away.

"Don't worry Malfoy, I don't bite." Harry smirked at him. "Much."

* * *

Later that day Harry was walking on the beach when he saw a familiar reddish-brown-headed man walking to the property.

"Oliver!" He shouted and waved his hand at his former Captain, who started walking towards him.

"Hullo Harry, long time no see." Oliver grinned. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, considering the circumstances… I heard Ginny told you…"

"Yeah, she did. I was sorry to hear about that, but you're a fighter Harry. I know you'll get through it." Oliver said putting a hand to his shoulder.

"Yeah." Harry said. "But just so you know, Wood… if you hurt Ginny in any way, I'll make sure you'll never mount a broom again, Leukemia or not."

"Duly noted." Oliver said solemnly. "Now, what is it I hear that you're getting married to Draco Malfoy of all people…?" He asked and Harry explained the situation to him.

"Wow, you really have the worst luck don't you Harry?" Oliver commented after Harry finished his explanation.

"Aye, that's me. Trouble always finds me." Harry grinned feebly. "But enough about that. Let's go inside and get you settled. And I'm sure you and Ginny have much to catch up." He wiggled his eyebrows and laughingly led the blushing Quidditch player to the house.

* * *

That night Draco lay on his shared bed with Harry, trying to get some sleep, but sleep seemed to be evasive of him. He felt wired, like all his senses were suddenly sharpened and awareness increased – awareness especially towards the half-naked body lying peacefully next to him. His eyes kept trailing to the smooth skin of Harry's naked back and his fingers itching to touch him and find out if it really was as smooth as it looked. He wanted to study every scar he could see on him, highlighted by the faint moonlight shining from the windows and press his lips on that long pale neck…

Suddenly Harry shifted and Draco became aware that his fingers were trailing the air above Harry's back just few inches from touching.

_'__Stop it, Malfoy!'_ Draco told himself and quickly pulled his hand back. He ripped his eyes off of Harry and turned to his other side, so that his back was towards Harry. _'This is Potter you're fantasizing about.'_

Draco had been trying to deny his attraction to the brunette ever since he had started working with him years ago and had mostly succeeded too, but Scorpius' words kept invading his mind, not to mention the near-kiss just the day before. Did he really feel something other than physical attraction towards Harry?

Draco thought about his feelings towards the brunette. Sure, he had come to like him and he didn't want him to die and of course, there was the clear physical attraction, but did it mean that he had _feelings_ for him? How did you know when you were in love? Draco had never been in love with anyone. His marriage had been no more than a necessity and the few flings he had had were purely physical relationships, with no emotions involved. Well, except for that one… But he didn't think about that. So how did you know?

Draco squeezed his eyes shut and buried his head in the pillow, letting out a small groan. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

"S'op t'rnin' ove' D'aco." Harry murmured and Draco turned to look at him. The other man was clearly still as sleep so Draco turned back to his side and shut his eyes. A few seconds later he felt the mattress move as Harry rolled around and suddenly Draco felt him pressing to his back. A hand snaked around his waist and pulled him even closer to Harry, who sighed contently.

_'__Merlin's bloody pants!'_ Draco thought_. "Potter's spooning me! What the hell is he thinking he's doing?"_

"Potter." He whispered nudging him lightly, but got no reaction. Harry's breathing was even so Draco figured that he was still asleep. Sighing he tried to push him away from him, but Harry only tightened his hand around Draco's waist.

_'__Great.'_ Draco thought. Now he was stuck next to Potter _cuddling_ him! And Malfoys do not cuddle! Draco shut his eyes and took a deep breath forcing himself to relax.

If Draco was honest with himself though, he kind of liked the feel of Harry's hands around him. It made him feel safe and… loved. And with these thoughts on his mind he drifted into a peaceful sleep and slept the best he had in a very long time.

* * *

Next morning everyone gathered in the dining room for breakfast to discuss what they were going to do that day. It was decided that they were just going to spend the day at the beach as it was too hot to do anything exhausting like shopping. Everyone was happy with that plan and one by one could be found either in the water, walking on the sand, sunbathing or hiding under the little shadow the trees provided.

Draco for one was very happy to just keep to the shadows not wanting to get sunburned and just focus on his paperwork. Unfortunately for him, someone was not happy with that and soon his stack of papers was snatched away.

"Potter!" He yelped and glared at the raven-haired man who was looking down at him with a disappointed face. Draco though managed to miss the look entirely as it just registered to his brain that Harry was standing extremely close to him clad only in his swimming trunks.

"_This _is what you call a holiday?" Harry asked holding the stack of papers and not noticing Draco's straying eyes.

Drawing his eyes off of Harry's sweaty body, Draco readjusted his face into mild irritation: "Give that back Potter, can't you see I'm working?"

"No can do, Draco." Harry said shaking his head. "You're supposed to relax and not worry about work when you're on a holiday. Now come play some beach ball with Al, Scorp and I, we're one short."

Draco glared at him, more on principal than for actually being irritated. He knew Harry was right and that he worked too much – his mother and Scorpius had complained enough about it. Maybe he really should cut it back a bit. He had a talented staff, he had made sure of that, he knew they could handle themselves and take care of his company. It was just that he had worked so hard to clear up the Malfoy name and make a successful business that he was a bit paranoid about it. And really, what else was there than his work when his son was at Hogwarts.

Now however Scorpius was home and here he was, once again working instead of spending time with his son when he still had the chance – kids just grew up too quickly. Time to correct that, Draco thought and stood up.

"Fine." He said and took off his shirt. "Let's play Potter." He said and smirked challengingly before stalking past Harry towards the boys and the beach ball net.

"You're gonna play too, Dad?" Scorpius asked him his whole face lighting up and Draco smiled happy that he made his son happy.

"Of course." He said. "We're gonna beat these Potters." He said wrapping an arm around Scorpius' shoulders.

"Have you ever even played beach ball Dad?" Scorpius asked amused.

"No." Draco admitted. "But how hard can it be?"

* * *

A few hours – and a few lost games – later found Draco floating in the water feeling more relaxed than he had felt in a long time. He had actually had a very good time playing with Harry and the kids and he wasn't even bothered by the fact that he and Scorpius lost every game – which was unusual for him as he had always been very competitive by nature. Now though he had just enjoyed spending time with his son and well, Harry too.

He had won one game though, when he teamed with Harry against their sons. Draco had to admit that they made a pretty good team, especially after he finally got the hang of the game.

With a content sigh Draco got up from the water and started walking back to his tree. He grabbed his towel and dried himself before spotting Oliver sitting on the beach just by the house. Deciding it was a good time to catch up with his friend he walked over to him.

"So you and Weaslette, huh?" Draco stated sitting down next to Oliver on the sand. "Figures she would be the one to tie _the_ Oliver Wood down." He continued with a slight smirk as he followed Oliver's gaze to the red-head who was having a water fight with Harry and the kids.

"You're just jealous Draco." Oliver grinned not removing his gaze of Ginny.

The two of them had stroke up a friendship several years ago when Draco had defended Oliver's younger brother after he had been falsely accused of murder, and won the case.

"Please, I don't go for gingers." Draco scoffed.

Oliver laughed and the two men sat in silence, both gazing at Harry and Ginny respectively.

"You really are smitten with her." Draco commented.

"She's the one." Oliver said readily.

"How'd you know?" Draco asked before being able to stop himself.

Oliver turned to look at him.

"You just know." He said looking at Draco sympathetically. "You should tell him, you know." He continued.

"Who?"

"Harry."

"Potter? What do I need to tell him?" Draco asked like he didn't know what Oliver was talking about.

Oliver gave him a pointed look and said: "That you're in love with him."

Draco said nothing, knowing there was no point in denying his feelings for Harry. He had finally admitted that to himself. What he felt for Harry was something he had never felt before with anyone not even with _him_, so if that wasn't love, what was?

"You're not even denying it." Oliver smiled before laughing. "Just imagine if someone told you that you were going to fall in love with Harry and get married to him while we were back in Hogwarts."

Draco rolled his eyes before shrugging.

"There's a fine line between love and hate." Draco said repeating the words Scorpius had said to him.

"You're saying you loved him even back in Hogwarts?" Oliver turned to look at him his eyebrows raised.

"Not really. But the attraction was always there. If things had been different…" Draco trailed off admitting something he had thought of. In fact he had thought a lot of their time at Hogwarts lately and often wondered what would have happened if things really had been different and they hadn't been forced to hate each other. Still past was the past and it should stay there. Besides, if he had gotten together with Harry in Hogwarts he'd never have had Scorpius and he wouldn't give up his son for anything.

Oliver nodded in understanding.

"You really should tell him though."

"No, I can't risk it." Draco shook his head. "He's getting worse every day. I just can't lose someone I love – I can't go through that again."

"You're saying that you wouldn't feel sorrow if he were to die tomorrow?" Oliver asked skeptically.

Draco winced but said nothing.

"It's better to have loved and lost than not loved at all." Oliver recited and the two men sat in silence watching the sun set, both lost in their thoughts thinking about the people they loved the most.

In Draco's mind there was only one question:

Was the risk worth it?

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think!**

**I'll try to write and post the next chapter as soon as possible, but once again it may take some time. I've just started working in a new job and that's gonna take most off my time. But, let's hope my muse doesn't fail me and I'll be able to update soon! :)**

**\- Dalnim**


	10. Nighttime conversations

**A/N: Thank you for reviews! Here's another chapter. There's quite a bit of angst in this one but it was inevitable - even Harry can't be tough all the time! Anyways, I hope you like it!**

**Thank you _AcadianProud_ for informing me about the mistake with the dates in chapter 4. It seems that after I changed the dates a century later I have missed one - that will be corrected later.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Draco woke up feeling cold. It took a few minutes for him to figure out why, till he realized that the warm body that had been sleeping next to him was missing. Muttering a Tempus charm he saw that the time was nearly 3.30. He looked around and saw a faint light coming from the slightly open bathroom door attached to his and Harry's shared room. He got out of the bed wrapping his arms around himself as the cold hit his half-naked body. He walked to the door and pushed it slightly more open so that he could see inside to check that everything was okay with Harry – from the coldness of the bed he deducted that Harry hadn't been there for a while.

Harry was sitting on the bathroom floor next to the toilet clad only in his boxers just like Draco. He was incredibly pale and his skin glistered in sweat, glamours non-existent revealing the dark circles under his eyes. Draco could smell the vomit and it didn't take a genius to guess that Harry was having one of his worst nights. Draco watched as another wave of nausea hit him and for the first time he truly realized the toll Harry's disease was taking on him. He always put on a brave face around his family and smiled and joked around, but this, _this_ was what he went through almost every day. All alone.

It finally sunk in for Draco – Harry was really dying.

Suddenly Draco felt a huge surge of protectiveness towards his former rival. He wanted to make him better – do anything he could to help him beat his disease. Only there was nothing he could do. If the healers couldn't find a matching tissue, there was no hope for Harry.

But there _was_ one thing Draco could do for Harry. He could make sure that Harry didn't have to go through everything alone.

Draco backed out of the doorway back to the bedroom and looked around searchingly. He found what he needed and walked back to the bathroom this time entering it. He approached Harry's shivering form and wrapped a warm blanket around him before straightening and handing Harry a glass of water.

"Draco?" Harry croaked in surprise as he felt something warm wrap around him.

"Here." Draco said and gave him the water.

Harry sipped at it gratefully before looking at Draco apologetically.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." He said quietly and Draco pushed down his frustration. Harry had nothing to apologize, it's more like he _should _have woken him up – there was no need for him to suffer alone.

Draco opened his mouth to tell him just that when Harry turned back to the toilet puking his guts. Draco hurried to help him, wrapping his arms around Harry to keep the blanket in its place. He handed Harry a piece of paper to wipe his mouth without removing his arms from his waist. Harry accepted it gratefully before once again sipping at his water. He relaxed in Draco's arms leaning into his chest, breathing heavily. Draco could see he was exhausted and wondered how long he had been there before he had woken up. They stayed like that for a long time, Draco holding Harry in his arms while they sat on the bathroom floor.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked quietly after a while. "Any better?"

"Mmmm." Harry mumbled sleepily.

Draco decided to take that as an affirmative and scooped Harry up bringing him back to their bed. He laid him to the bed and tucked him in brushing his fridge away from his face. He lied back next to him and pulled him close sleepily kissing him on the temple before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Harry yawned as he made his way towards the kitchen. He was truly exhausted after the night he had had but hadn't been able to fall back to sleep after waking up more than half an hour ago. He felt slightly embarrassed that Draco had seen him like that, at his weakest but truthfully he had been too exhausted to care. His disease had really started to take its toll on him.

Harry entered the kitchen but stopped short for a second.

"Good morning Scorpius." Harry said his eyebrows rising in surprise as he saw that he was not the first one up even though it wasn't even 7 yet. "You're up early."

"Morning Mr. Potter." Scorpius said not raising his eyes from the coffee cup he was holding.

"Really Scorpius, enough with the Mister." Harry said fondly. "You have been practically family since Al dragged you to visit in your first year, not to mention I'm gonna marry your dad soon – I think you can call me Harry."

Scorpius nodded wordlessly, still not looking at him.

Harry frowned and sat down next to the boy.

"Hey, everything alright?" He asked and Scorpius shrugged. "It's the marriage isn't it? You don't want me marrying Draco." He guessed.

"It's not about that… not exactly." Scorpius murmured. "I don't have anything against dad marrying you, per se…

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"It's just… I don't want my dad getting hurt." He admitted.

"You're afraid that I will hurt Draco?" Harry frowned in confusion. Why would Scorpius think that?

"I'm not saying you'll hurt him, at least on purpose, but with your illness and…" Scorpius trailed off frustrated trying to find the right words. He took a deep breath. "Has dad told you about Sebastian?"

_Sebastian?_ Harry thought with a raised eyebrow having never heard the name.

"No, he hasn't." He said and Scorpius nodded resigned clearly having expected the answer.

"It's not my place to tell you about him, but a long story short, he hurt dad and dad hasn't dated since. And now suddenly he's getting married to you and you have history together and he has always cared about you and then you're dying…"

Suddenly it dawned on him what Scorpius was afraid of – he was worried that Draco would develop feelings for Harry and then Harry would die and leave Draco heartbroken… again it seemed. Harry felt a wave of anger at the thought of some other man having hurt Draco, but pushed it aside concentrating on Scorpius. It was a valid fear the boy had – one that Harry had for himself too.

"I understand your concern with this Scorpius and I can promise you that I will not deliberately seek to hurt your dad. I however, cannot promise to not to die on him – nobody can. But ever since I found out about my illness I have learned not to live in fear of what is to come. I live one day at a time, trying not to think about whether I'm going to be alive on the next day or not. Yes I'm ill and my chance of survival at this point is less than a zero, but today I'm still alive and if the love of my life would walk through that door right now I wouldn't hesitate to embrace it because you can never know what happens in life next. It is highly possible that he would die in a simple accident before me, leaving me heartbroken even though I'm the one with a terminal illness.

"What I'm trying to say Scorpius, is that you shouldn't be afraid of possibilities life might bring. Your dad is a smart man and I'm sure he will think through all the outcomes before he gets into anything."

"I know that." Scorpius said. "I just can't help feeling worried. It's stupid."

"It's okay to feel worried Scorpius." Harry said putting an arm around him. "And it's not stupid. No feeling ever is. It's just human."

Scorpius nodded.

"For what it's worth, I hope you get better and marry my dad." He said. "I think you would be good for him… Harry."

Scorpius gave Harry a quick hug before dashing out of the room, not allowing Harry a chance to say anything.

But Scorpius saying that to him – it was worth a lot.

* * *

Harry was avoiding him, Draco thought as he wandered through the house in search of the right room. He hadn't seen the raven-haired man other than briefly during the whole day. The kids had decided to spend the day exploring Florida and Oliver had Quidditch practice, leaving only Harry, Draco and Ginny in the house as none of them felt like joining the kids.

Draco had decided to spend his time researching leukemia so that he could better help Harry and know what to expect. Now though, he was in search of Ginny to find out what treatment Harry was getting, having come across several in his search.

Draco knocked on the door of Room 1 where he knew Ginny was staying with Oliver. After a few seconds he heard noise from the inside and soon the door opened.

"Draco?" Ginny asked surprised.

"Ginny." Draco nodded, for the first time using her name instead of calling her 'Weaslette'. He deemed it better not to be insulting if he wanted to get information from her – not that the name was an insult anymore, more of a habit, and to his knowledge she hadn't really minded it anymore. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course." She said with a slight frown as she stepped away to let him in. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine, everything's fine. I was just wondering if you could tell me what kind of treatments Potter's getting for his disease." Draco said getting straight to the point.

Ginny looked surprised but not totally against telling him.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked.

"I'd just like to know so that if something happens I know what to give him." Draco said slightly evasively. "It is potions they are giving him, right? I haven't seen him leave to the hospital for treatments." He added hoping that it would distract Ginny from inquiring more of his reasons.

No such luck. The woman was too bloody perceptive.

"Really Draco." She said raising an eyebrow at him. "Clearly you have done some research on Leukemia if you know about the treatments used for it. Now, the truth please." She said.

"Fine! I want to know because I want to help him." Draco exclaimed. "Happy now?" He glared at her.

"Quite." Ginny said grinning happily.

"Well?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"He has three potions. One – blue – to help with nausea, one – yellow – to boost his immune system and one – green – to generally help his body fight back. He keeps them in the drawer in your bedroom. He needs to take them once a day." Ginny said. "He also has checkups with Angelina twice a month."

Draco nodded.

"Thank you." He said turning to leave.

"No, thank _you_ for caring."

* * *

That night Draco woke up barely an hour after he had fallen asleep to the sound of the toilet flushing. He stayed in bed for a few minutes waiting to see if Harry would come out, but when he didn't he made his way to the bathroom. Draco opened the door and found Harry once again sitting on the floor next to the toilet seat, this time though not throwing up, but leaning to the cold wall his eyes closed, looking completely exhausted.

"Harry?" He asked quietly as he approached the other man as to not to startle him.

Harry opened his eyes tiredly halfway but said nothing. Draco once again put the blanket around his shivering body.

"Have you taken your potions?" He asked and Harry moved once his head from side to side, which Draco interpreted as no. Draco nodded mostly to himself and headed back to the bedroom straight to the drawer where Ginny said Harry kept his potions in. He grabbed the blue one, which should help with nausea and went back to Harry.

"Drink that." He said and gave the potion to Harry, who weakly took it to his hand while Draco poured him a glass of water to wash down the horrible taste of the potion. Seeing Harry struggle with the potion he helped him drink it along with the water. Harry closed his eyes again for a few seconds and Draco busied himself with taking the vial away.

"Thank you." Harry said quietly, his voice not louder than a whisper. "You know you don't have to keep doing this."

"You don't have to do this alone Harry." Draco said slightly exasperated at the stubborn man. "You have a house full of people who would do everything to help you if you'd only let then."

Harry closed his eyes again and Draco saw a single tear fall down his pale cheek and not a second later his body started shaking even more. Draco felt his heart break as he saw the strongest person he knew break down completely under the pressure his disease caused him. Draco highly doubted Harry had even once just let it all out after finding his fate.

He did the only thing he could and went over to him pulling Harry into his arms and holding him tight. Harry sobbed even harder as he felt Draco's arms wrap around him. They stayed like that for a long time until Harry quieted down some.

"I'm just so tired." Harry cried quietly. "I just want it to end. Why doesn't it end already, Draco?"

Draco felt like Harry had stabbed him with a knife straight to his heart. He was horrified by the thoughts going through Harry's head. He had clearly lost even the tiniest hope of getting better and now wanted to just die already so that he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Draco couldn't – wouldn't – allow that. But before he had the chance to open his mouth to counter him Harry continued.

"I can feel my body shutting down." He whispered. "Every day I feel worse and worse."

Draco shut his eyes tightly to keep his own tears from falling.

"Is that why you don't take your potions?" He didn't really want to know the answer but he had to ask. He had to know.

"They only help a little." Harry said. "They make my suffering last longer."

Draco did not know what to say to that. How could he make Harry understand that he shouldn't give up yet? He still had time. The healers would find a match for him. He had to do something. He couldn't let Harry keep thinking like that. If he did then there truly was no chance for him to get better – willpower was a huge part of his recover. Without it, Harry would just fade away.

Draco knew that trying to reason with Harry wouldn't work. He needed to use a different approach.

"You're a coward." He said working up a little bit of the old Malfoy bite into his voice. It seemed to have worked as he felt Harry tense in his arms. "The Potter I know wouldn't let some Muggle disease get the best of him. The Potter I know would fight tooth and nail, like he did against Voldemort and the Death Eaters even when he knew it was most likely a certain death waiting for him. But still he wouldn't give up. He and his friends _together_ fought against the enemy and against all odds won the fight. I don't know what happened to him, but you're not _him_." He said fiercely. "You're just a sorry excuse…"

Suddenly Draco felt a hard shove as Harry pushed him away from himself to the hard clod floor and stood up his whole body shaking with _anger_. And anger was good. Any sign of weakness was gone and Harry's emerald eyes were shining with so much emotion. Draco found he had missed that passion in Harry's face, and was glad to have it back.

"You know nothing Malfoy, _nothing_." Harry spat at him before storming off the bathroom, leaving Draco lying on the hard floor. Draco looked after him for a moment, his face breaking into a huge smile.

That went better than he had thought.

* * *

The next day was the day when everyone went to the Disney World. Harry was as excited about it as the children and for once Draco could see that he wasn't faking the emotion. His eyes were shining with happiness as he led the group with his daughter under his arm listening to the children chatter about all the places they wanted to go there. Draco was content to just stay back and observe them.

This time around Harry wasn't exactly avoiding him, but not acknowledging him either.

"You did something." A voice from his left said suddenly. Draco turned his head to see Ginny walking beside him looking at him with a mixture of curiosity, suspicion and happiness. "You did something to Harry."

"What makes you think that?" Draco inquired.

"Because he's different. Better." Ginny said trying to find the right words. "He's… He's more like the old Harry. It's like… like his passion was missing from him and now it's not."

Draco said nothing happy that someone else had noticed too.

"So what did you do?" She prodded.

"I just gave him the push he needed." Draco said not saying anymore on the subject.

"Fine, keep your secrets." Ginny huffed before breaking in to a genuine smile. "But thank you." She said squeezing his hand slightly before jogging to catch up with her boyfriend.

Draco felt an odd warmness spread inside him as he watched the people around him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being part of this family.

* * *

Another night came and this time Draco himself was exhausted as he made his way into his and Harry's shared bedroom. The Muggle amusement park had been exhausting, but if Draco was honest he had had a really good time. The kids had dragged him from device to device and he had truly enjoyed spending time with all of them, not just Scorpius. Now however he wanted to just fall into his bed and sleep.

Unfortunately for him it was not in his cards as when he finally reached the bedroom, he found Harry sitting on their bed this time wide awake and clearly waiting for him.

"Hey." Harry said as he entered the room. Draco nodded at him too tired to speak.

"Did you have fun today?" Harry asked as Draco tiredly stripped his clothes.

Really, small talk now? He thought and raised an eyebrow at Harry, but answered nonetheless.

"Yes, I did. It wasn't as bad as I'd originally thought." He admitted.

Harry grinned at that and Draco waited for the 'I told you so' but it never came and he turned back to look at Harry who looked like he was contemplating something.

After a few seconds he seemed to come to a decision and took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yelling at you last night. You were right, I was being a coward. I let it all pile up and it came crashing down. I don't really want to die." Harry grimaced. "So thank you… for dragging me back up."

Draco nodded. "You're welcome. Just don't let it happen again. You're not alone in this, Harry. You're allowed to ask for help."

Harry nodded and they both lied down on the bed in silence. It wasn't long till both of them fell asleep.

A few hours later though, Draco woke up to a bright light shining on his face. He had to blink many times before his eyes adjusted into the brightness and he recognized the source. It was Harry's deer Patronus. Draco glanced at the side of the bed not surprised to find it empty. He watched as the Patronus moved and walked through the bathroom door. Quickly he followed it and a few minutes later he was once again on the bathroom floor trying to help Harry get over his nausea.

"Did you take your potions?" Draco frowned.

"Yeah." Harry breathed after the nausea passed. "It's just more of the long term effect that gives the help." He grimaced.

"You're an idiot." Draco said lifting him into his arms.

"I know."

Draco carried him back to the bed and tucked him in.

"Could you bring me something other than water to drink?" Harry asked carefully, clearly still uncomfortable asking Draco for help. "Juice maybe?"

"I'll do you one better." Draco said. "I'll be right back." He said and left the room heading to the kitchen. It took him ten minutes to prepare what he wanted to, but when it was ready he went back to the bedroom where he found Harry leaning to the headboard his eyes closed.

"Harry?" He asked quietly testing if he was asleep, but the emerald eyes opened at the sound of his name and he gratefully accepted the steaming cup.

"What is it?" Harry asked taking a sip, sighing happily as the warm liquid went through his body. "It's good."

"It's an herbal tea. It's supposed to sooth the stomach and help to sleep better." Draco said falling quiet for a minute. "Dobby used to make it for me when I was little for all the times when I was sick." Draco continued quietly with a small sad smile.

"Dobby?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yeah. He was like my… nanny or something. He was the one charged with taking care of me when I was small. Well, at least until Lucius decided his son needed to be toughened up when I turned six." He shuddered.

"What about your mother?" Harry asked carefully.

"Lucius kept her in check. I was taken from her right after I was born. She had certain times she was allowed to see me during my childhood or he would beat her up." Draco said tonelessly.

"I'm sorry." Harry said sadness in his voice as he squeezed Draco's hand.

"He's gone now. Thanks to you." Draco said with a small smile at Harry.

Harry nodded shortly absently.

"I buried him myself, you know." Harry said lost in his memories. "Dobby, I mean. His grave is at the Shell Cottage, where Bill and Fleur live, by the beach. I could take you there some time if you want."

Draco turned to look at him in surprise.

"I'd like that."

The two sat in silence for a while before Harry gave a deep resigned sigh.

"I think we should have the wedding as soon as possible." He said. "Just in case."

Draco paused for a second surprised at the abrupt change of subject before nodding in understanding a wave of grief washing through him. He knew what Harry was saying, or more likely not saying. They were running out of time, not because of the contract, but because Harry was getting weaker by the day, succumbing to his illness no matter how hard he'd try to fight it. There was no denying that. The bad days were getting more frequent and while Harry was now actually taking his potions they could help only so much.

"How soon?" Draco asked.

"Preferably tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? How did you think we are going to arrange anything by tomorrow?"

"Not much to do." Harry shrugged weakly. "We have the rings, Oliver can marry us and James can go get your mum and Blaise here. We don't really need much decoration as we agreed that a small affair is enough, unless you have changed you mind about that."

"No it's fine." Draco said.

"So tomorrow then?"

Draco nodded numbly not really able to grasp the fact that he was going to marry Harry in less than 24 hours.

"Tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter/story.**

**\- Dalnim**


	11. The Wedding

**A/N: Thank you for reviews! I finally managed to finish this chapter - really sorry about the wait - and I hope you like it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The next morning was a whirl of action. Draco got up at six to make arrangements deciding to let Harry sleep in for as long as he needed – it wouldn't do for him to be exhausted at his own wedding even if it wasn't going to be anything fancy. The rest of the family were surprised at their decision but understood their reasoning and promised to help. Ginny wouldn't take no for an answer regarding the decoration of the house and the beach where they had decided to have the ceremony, enlisting all the children to help her. Oliver agreed to perform the ceremony and James was sent off to pick up Blaise, who was to be Draco's best man, as well as Narcissa.

Harry summoned a couple of house elves to take care of the food and now he and Draco were going to make their way to the magical side of Florida to buy their wedding robes. It seemed that Draco had a vision of what he wanted them to wear and Harry was just dragged along as Draco insisted that he needs to get it fitted. Really it was fine by him as he didn't really care what he was wearing – he just wanted to get it over with to ensure that the contract would be taken care of.

"I don't think you should go together." Lily said as the two were preparing to leave. "It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before wedding." She said.

"Have you been watching Muggle movies again?" Harry laughed.

"Not the point, Dad." Lily crossed her arms and Harry put his arm around her shoulders.

"I think we'll be fine, Lils." He said grinning. "And there's no mention of two _grooms_ seeing each other."

"Fine." Lily pouted. "But still somebody needs to walk down the aisle." She countered and the two men looked at each other.

"Not a chance Potter." Draco said before Harry even had time to open his mouth.

"But between the two of us you're the more…" Harry trailed of deciding that it may be better not to finish his sentence.

"What? Feminine?" Draco asked sharply. "Is that what you were going to say?" He demanded.

"I wasn't…"

"Yes you were, Dad." Lily piped in grinning and Harry glared at her.

"Fine, I was." Harry said raising his hands in surrender. "But I didn't mean that you're _feminine_, just that you're _more_ feminine than I am. I mean… I'm not the one who spends half an hour doing my hair every morning…"

"Really Potter, just because I like to look my best, you're saying I'm the woman in this relationship?"

Harry opened his mouth and closed it again furiously thinking how to get out of the hole he had just dug himself into. "It's traditional for the younger family's groom to walk down the aisle." He blurted.

"Now you're calling us traditional?" Draco raised his eyebrow, his arms folded. "There's _nothing_ traditional in this arrangement."

"Okay fine! Neither of us will walk down the aisle. We'll both come from the sides and meet in the middle. Happy now?" Harry asked frustrated.

"Immensely."

"Good. Now let's go and get the suits over with." He said and walked out of the door. Draco grinned and winked at Lily before going after. At last he got some back at Harry for winding him up all the time.

* * *

James arrived with Blaise and Narcissa an hour before the wedding was set to begin and everyone was there to greet them.

"Mother." Draco greeted and hugged her.

"Hello Draco." She said.

"I trust you remember Harry." Draco continued.

"Of course." Narcissa said and shook hands with Harry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again Ms. Black." Harry said.

"Please call me Narcissa, Harry, we're about to be family after all."

"Narcissa then." Harry smiled. "Let me introduce you to my family. James and Albus you have of course met already, but this is my youngest Lily and this is the mother of my children and my best friend Ginny Weasley. And last but not least a good friend of Draco and myself, Oliver Wood, as well as James' girlfriend Alice Longbottom."

While Narcissa greeted all of them Harry turned to their other guest.

"Blaise, it's been awhile." He said and hugged the other man.

"So it has." Blaise said hugging him back. "Someone went MIA after our last meeting in February."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Harry said opening his mouth to explain but Blaise beat him to it.

"Don't worry about it. Draco's already told me all about it." He said. "Though I'm a bit hurt you didn't tell me personally that this nice piece is off the market." He continued and grabbed Harry's arse.

Harry laughed at his friend's flirting.

"Sorry mate, I know I should have let you say goodbye properly." He said back.

"We still have time." Blaise wiggled his eyebrows. "There's still half an hour till the wedding starts."

"As much as I would love to, I'll have to go get ready." Harry laughed.

"Fine." Blaise pouted.

"Don't worry Blaise, one of these days we'll find you your own piece of arse that you can marry."

"Me? Married? Never!" Blaise exclaimed. "I like my freedom to choose thank you very much."

"We'll see, we'll see." Harry winked before leaving to get ready.

* * *

Meanwhile Ginny watched as Draco stormed out of the Hall looking angry. She looked back to the Hall and saw Harry laughing with Blaise and shook her head in amusement. Clearly they were flirting again and Draco was jealous probably thinking there was something more to it than there actually was. Truth was that Harry and Blaise were always flirting. It was just part of their friendship. There had never been any romantic feelings between those two; just plain physical attraction but it seemed that Draco was not made aware of this.

Deciding that she needed to fix this Ginny followed the blond to the room he was getting ready at and knocked before entering.

"What do you want Weasley?" Draco asked irritated trying to fix his tie. Ginny rolled her eyes and took over.

"You know there's no need to be jealous, there's nothing going on between Harry and Blaise." She said.

"What? I'm not jealous!" Draco exclaimed. "Potter can flirt with my best friend all he wants."

"Well that's good then, because they're gonna do that a lot." Ginny said. "Blaise is the biggest flirt I have ever had the pleasure of meeting – I'm sure you know – and I've never seen him not flirting with every man he encounters." She continued the tie now fixed.

"Just as long as you know that it's just that – flirting. Nothing will ever happen with those two. And what they may have had in the past was purely physical, there was no feelings involved whatsoever." She added as Draco opened his mouth to protest. "Now get yourself together, you need to be downstairs in ten minutes." She smiled before exiting the room, leaving Draco to his thoughts.

* * *

The ceremony went off without a hitch. They were married on the beach like planned just as the sun was setting. Ginny had done a great job with the decorations and flowers and it actually looked like a wedding even though they had a really limited time to arrange everything. The ceremony was kept short and simple like the grooms had wanted but still both Ginny and Narcissa had tears in their eyes as Harry and Draco exchanged rings and said their vows.

And then came the kiss; the kiss that sealed their union and created the beginnings of the bond between the two men.

There was no hesitation in neither of their eyes as Harry and Draco leaned in and pressed their lips against each other in an electric kiss creating a flash of a light so bright that all the guest were blinded for a few seconds. Everyone watched as the glow settled around them before cheering and wolf-whistling at the two.

Everyone congratulated them and soon the wedding went on with good food and good music and everyone was having a great time. The wedding party (grooms especially) apart from the children, Ginny and Narcissa were getting more than tipsy as the evening went further and Draco and Harry were a lot more relaxed about the whole ordeal, especially around each other.

Draco was sitting by the tables chatting with Oliver while his eyes trailed more often than not towards the dance floor where Harry whirled around with Blaise.

"Jealous much?" Oliver laughed as he noted that Draco wasn't really paying attention to their conversation.

"I don't know what you mean?" Draco muttered sipping his Firewhiskey, not removing his gaze from the dance floor.

"Come on, Draco, you're probably the only one he hasn't danced with today and you have been glaring daggers at him and Blaise for the whole time they have been dancing." Oliver pointed out. "Think Blaise is gonna steal your man?" He teased.

"They have history." Draco blurted out.

"What, Harry and Blaise?" Oliver raised his eyebrows turning to look at the two men whirling in the dance floor.

"Yes." Draco muttered taking another drink.

"Really, I didn't know that."

"He was his first." Draco said gloomily.

"What, really?!" Oliver exclaimed in surprise. "How did that happened? I thought he and Ginny were together since her fifth grade and somehow I don't think Harry would have slept with a Slytherin before that, no offense. Unless it was after the divorce…"

"Blaise said it was just after the war ended. Potter was… experimenting. The met in a Muggle bar."

"Okay, fine, so you're jealous of what happened between them 20 years ago." Oliver said.

"I'm not jealous!" Draco exclaimed.

"Sure looked like that to me." Oliver laughed.

"We're not discussing this." Draco folded his arms and glared at Oliver, who just chuckled.

"Fine, but just to remind you, you did just marry Harry a few hours ago and you're the one he's gonna take to bed tonight… So really there's nothing to be jealous about, not that I think there would be anything going on with those two..." Oliver said but Draco failed to hear the rest as his brain caught up to the fact that he and Harry were supposed to consummate the marriage. Tonight.

Tonight all his years of fantasies would turn to reality.

But before his alcohol-hazed mind could get deeper into reminiscing the dreams he had had of himself and Harry – which he admitted even to himself only because of the amount of alcohol in his blood – Oliver nudged him and he noticed his husband approaching him. His _husband_…

"Want to dance _Potter_?" Harry asked Draco and held out his hand.

"And get my feet trampled?" Draco scoffed with a raised eyebrow. "No thanks, _Malfoy_."

"Hey! I can dance!" Harry exclaimed pretending to offended. "What makes you think I can't?"

"Two words Potter: Yule Ball." Draco gave him a pointed look.

"Argh, don't remind me." Harry groaned with a grimace. "It was bloody awful." He said and Draco snorted.

"You think?"

"But seriously, that was years ago. I have taken lessons since." Harry said holding out his hand again. "Come on, I promise not to trample your toes." He continued giving Draco the best puppy eyes he could muster and Draco relented.

"Fine." He said taking Harry's hand and receiving a wide grin from him as a result. "But if you break my toes there will be a hell to pay." He threatened.

"Oh, what are you gonna do?" Harry asked with a smirk as they begun to waltz.

"Now that would be telling." Draco smirked back.

"Humor me."

"Well, I did ask Ginny to teach me the Bat-bogey hex…" Draco said and laughed as Harry gulped.

"It's a good thing I know how to dance then." Harry said and whirled Draco around.

"Yes, well you're not bad." Draco admitted reluctantly.

"Wow, that's like the highest compliment I could get from you." Harry laughed and Draco huffed.

The song changed to a slower one, but Harry kept on leading him around the dance floor. A silence fell between them but it was not an awkward one. They were both content just swaying in each other's arms. It wasn't until a third song – a really slow one - till Harry spoke again.

"You did know I could dance." He stated with a small smile. "You have been watching me all evening. Blaise thought your glares were going to make a hole in his head." He teased lightly and Draco blushed having thought that they had not noticed.

The song neared its end when Harry pulled Draco so close that for a moment the blond thought he was going to kiss him but instead Harry put his lips near his ear and whispered:

"There's no need to be jealous Draco; there's only you."

And then with a flirtatious wink he was gone, pulled into another fast dance with his daughter while Draco stood completely dazed in the dance floor until he too was dragged into another dance and the wedding went on. Still in the depths of his drunken mind, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Harry meant by those words.

The party lasted till midnight and then everyone but Harry and Draco left back to Britain. It had been agreed that they would spent their wedding night in the beach house and then join the family for breakfast back in the Manor, since neither men wanted to have a honeymoon for obvious reasons.

Surprisingly tough, it was not awkward at all when Harry and Draco were left alone in the house. Mostly due to the alcohol in their blood and possibly the wedding bond too they had been flirting all evening and as soon as the last guests left the building the two were all over each other. Afterwards, neither could pin point who moved first but suddenly all the attraction and tension between them came pouring out and their lips were mashing against each other and hands exploring their bodies. They barely made it into the bedroom, leaving behind only a trail of clothes.

And so caught up they were with each other that neither noticed the bright swirls of light as they connected and tied the two souls together.

Till the end of all time.

* * *

Harry sat up on the bed sleepily and rubbed his eyes. He had no idea what had woken him up but for some reason his body felt odd, like he was going through a rough work out. This strange feeling was not one he associated with his illness and he didn't think it had come from the frankly amazing sex he had with Draco just… a few hours ago it seemed as he looked at the clock and saw it was nearly five in the morning.

He smiled blissfully at the thought and turned to look at Draco who was sleeping beside him. He looked beautiful in the early morning light and Harry couldn't help but reach out to push a stray of blond hair away from his face. As he did that he noticed that the blond was not sleeping as peacefully as he had thought, but was frowning and his hand was pulled into a fist on his stomach. Harry moved closer and pulled Draco to his chest, gently stroking his hand.

"Sshhh. It's okay Draco." He whispered.

A few moments later Draco relaxed and the frown disappeared. He hummed peacefully as he turned over in his sleep and buried his face in Harry's neck, his arms wrapped tightly around him. Harry smiled contently and kissed at the blond mop of hair. With Draco in his arms the odd feeling disappeared and Harry fell back to sleep, completely forgetting all about the feeling or the fact that he had even woken up at all.

And the bond flashed for the final time.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter/story.**

**I still haven't decided what to do with Harry... I'm a sucker for happy endings but should I try something different this time and just kill him off? Or should there be some kind of cure with the bond he shares with Draco? Or maybe they just find a fitting tissue for him, I don't know. If you have suggestions please review and tell me about them, maybe I'll use one!**

**By the way, next chapter will be posted next weekend so keep an eye out! :)**

**\- Dalnim**


	12. The Burrow

**A/N: Thanks for reviews! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The next morning back in the Potter Manor was… well, awkward. Draco and Harry both were slightly hangover and were avoiding meeting each other's eyes. Everyone knew the two had had sex the night before – something the kids were trying very hard not to think about but the men's behavior made it very hard. Ginny on the other hand was thoroughly enjoying their embarrassment and was wiggling her eyebrows at Harry all the time when no one was looking.

The silence was unbearable and it seemed that everyone – apart from Ginny – was trying very hard to think something to start a conversation. After twenty minutes of poor attempts of talking about the weather Ginny took pity on them.

"So Harry…" She started. "Now that we have gotten the betrothal contract taken care of and nobody's losing their magic, I really think you should tell Mum and Dad about your disease, not to mention Hermione and Ron."

Harry winced at the reminder, not at all looking forward to telling the family as he knew he was going to get yelled at for not telling them the second he found out and after that smothered and treated like he was going to break at any minute.

"I know Gin. I'll tell them soon." Harry said evasively.

"Harry." Ginny crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell them tomorrow." Harry said raising his hand in surrender. He was in no mood to argue with Ginny.

"Good." Ginny clapped her hands. "We can all go." She said cheerfully.

"Scorpius and I are going to spend the day with Mother." Draco said instantly not willing to spend any time with Weasley and Granger, if he didn't have to.

"And I have a date with Alice." James piped in.

"Fine, well the rest of us can go then." Ginny said. "I'll tell Mum we'll be there at lunch."

"Draco and I have the interview with the Prophet tomorrow." Harry said suddenly, his eyes glancing at the blond before moving away.

"That's at 8am." Draco said not moving his gaze from the paper he was reading.

"Oh that's right, I forgot about that." Ginny mused. "But still, you'll make it to the lunch."

"Yeah fine." Harry said sullenly.

"That's settled then. I'll floo Mum and let her know."

* * *

The next day the Potter family, apart from James who was visiting Alice, apparated to the familiar yard of the Burrow and Harry soon found his hands full of his bushy-haired friend, whom he regarded as a sister.

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad you've finally come to your senses! I'm so happy for you! Though I do feel a bit hurt that you didn't tell me and that I had to read about it in the paper, but…" She babbled.

"Woah, Hermione, it's nice to see you too. Now calm down, breathe and tell me what in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Harry said.

"You and Draco of course!"

It took a moment for Harry to understand what she was on about until it hit him: the article. He had totally forgotten to inform the Weasleys about the situation with Draco and the marriage contract and now they had read about it in the Daily Prophet, which of course had been published as a special edition when it was _the Savior_ marrying _an ex-Death Eater_, which meant it was already all over the wizarding world.

Shit.

"Ah yeah, err…about that…" He started grimacing.

"I'm so happy you finally admitted that you're…"

"Mione, I have known that I was gay since I was eighteen." Harry interrupted.

"What! And you still married Ginny? And you didn't tell me?!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, looking at him sternly. "We're going to have a talk about this soon Harry James Potter and you're going to tell me everything, but now: you and Draco. When did you finally realize you were in love with him?" She continued excitedly.

"Love – wait what?" Harry exclaimed. "I'm not in love with Malfoy!"

"But of course you are!" Hermione said. "I've known for years, but didn't say anything as I thought you'd figure it out by yourself at some point and now you're getting married!" She continued happily.

"Wait a second Hermione…"

"Potter!" An angry shout came from the house and Harry groaned as he saw an angry-looking Ron storming towards him.

"So you're a fucking poof now?" Ron shouted. "You dumbed my sister for that ferret-face! How could you?!"

"Harry my dear, how nice to see you. You should visit more often. Have you been eating? You look a bit pale…" Molly joined in and one by one the rest of the Weasleys came out of the house surrounding him while asking a question after a question or shouting at him. Soon they were all talking at the same time, even the kids joining in as they tried to get everyone to back off from their father, when they saw his discomfort.

Harry felt like he was going to faint any minute now. His pulse quickened and he felt a heat wave wash over him along with dizziness. His vision blackened and all the noise around him fell dumb till he couldn't understand what they were saying anymore. He vaguely felt two pairs of hands taking hold of him as he swayed. Then suddenly he heard a loud shout from his right and his hearing returned.

"SHUT UP!" The voice screamed bringing Harry back to reality just in time to see the Weasley family shut up and stare at Ginny, who had finally arrived, in shock. Glaring at her family she turned to Harry.

"You okay?" She asked examining him.

"'M Fine." Harry said shrugging Albus and Lily – who had been holding him up – off, offering them a weak smile.

"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked concernedly.

"I'm fine." Harry repeated.

"No you're not." Ginny said taking him into the house and sitting him into a chair around the dining table while the rest of the family followed them inside. "Have you taken your potions?"

"How can you even be near him Ginny? He dumbed you for the ferret!" Ron spat at the same time as Hermione asked: "What potions?"

"Shut up Ronald!" Ginny said sharply. "Everybody just shut up!"

Everyone quieted down till Arthur said calmly:

"Now, if one of you would please explain what's going on?"

Ginny sighed deeply and asked: "Which one do you want to hear first; Harry being gay, Harry and Draco or our marriage?"

"Your marriage." Hermione and Molly said as one at the same time as Ron spat: "Malfoy."

Ginny glanced at Harry, who still looked a bit peaky and decided she would tell them about Harry being gay and their marriage first. Sighing she gestured everyone to sit down and started speaking:

"You all know that Harry and I got back together after the war ended, right?" She asked and received nods from all. "Well, what you didn't know though, is that about a month later Harry came to me and told me he thought he was gay. I had already suspected something like it as he had been a bit distant, and told him as much. Harry told me he needed time, to find out if he really was gay or if it was just a phase before we went any further in our relationship and I accepted that. We broke up without telling anyone so that Harry could concentrate on finding out his preferences in peace without all of you breathing down his neck.

"Then a week before school started again Harry came to me and told me he was definitely gay. I told him that I was still in love with him so we sat down and discussed what we were going to do. Harry told me that the only thing he regretted about being gay was that he wouldn't be able to have his own children and the family he had always wanted and that gave me an idea. I made Harry an offer and told him that I would be willing to give him that – a family.

"We both considered our options knowing that it would be a huge scandal if Harry came out of the closet so soon after the war – there would be no moment of peace for him with all the reporters, not to mention any chance of finding a boyfriend who would want him for him and not his reputation. We also knew our relationship was what everyone was expecting of us. So we made a deal: We would stay together and in a few years when we were older we would have at least two boys to continue the Potter and Black lines. After that, when the kids would be old enough, we would break up but still live together or at least close to each other so that the kids would have both of their parents with them." She finished and everyone stared at them in shock.

"But that's awful!" Hermione exclaimed breaking the silence. "You just tied Harry to yourself for a decade!"

"It was my decision, Hermione." Harry said.

"Harry was free to go out whenever he wished during our time together. I told him that from the beginning." Ginny said.

"She did." Harry piped in. "And I gave the same courtesy for her."

"Did you? 'Go out'?" Arthur asked.

"During the time we dated yes, but only in the Muggle world and after we got married I stopped. It didn't feel right, even though our marriage was mostly an act." Harry admitted.

"Oh Ginny dear, you must have been so lonely and unhappy." Molly deplored.

"Not at all Mum." Ginny said. "I was very happy during our time together. Harry always took good care of me even though he didn't love me like I loved him. Of course I was sad he didn't return my feelings, but we had and still have a good relationship as best friends. I would do it again if I had to. I have never regretted my decision and I never will."

"What do you mean took care of you? You mean you slept with him even though he was shagging blokes all the time?" Ron asked looking disgusted.

"We have three children together Ronald." Ginny said pointedly. "What do you think?"

"But he's a poof!" Ron exclaimed.

"Honestly Ronald." Hermione said rolling her eyes. "Gay men can sleep with women. It's just not as pleasurable for them as it is with a man."

"Whatever." Ron said. "I want to know what the hell you're doing with Malfoy."

Ginny glanced at Harry and asked: "You up for it?"

Harry nodded shortly before turning to his audience.

"A few months ago I was cleaning the Potter Castle and found an old document that was signed by my and Draco's ancestors. It was a betrothal contract between our families. As you can possibly imagine I was shocked and refused to believe it at first so I went to Gringotts and verified its truthfulness. The goblins confirmed that it was a real contract and that it had activated the moment I found it. The contract stated that a member from each of our families was to be married to the other in six months' time or our lines would lose our magic.

"So, I contacted Draco and informed him of the situation. Needless to say he was no happier about it than I was, so we agreed try to find a way to get out of it as neither of us wanted to force our kids marry each other. We researched for three months every week night and weekend we could, reading through every book on marriage contracts we could get hands on, but found no way out of it. We did however find out why there was such a contract between our families in the first place.

"We found our ancestors' diaries from the time the contract was created some couple of hundred years ago and found out that they had fallen in love with each other and created the contract so that they could be together, but Draco's ancestor died before the contract was found and the Potters moved away from the Castle, so the contract has been waiting to be found all this time.

"Anyway, the only loophole we found in the contract was that it didn't say who had to marry as long as it was a member of each of our families by blood. Draco and I agreed to marry each other so that our kids wouldn't have to." Harry finished.

"Oh I knew you wouldn't get married to that Malfoy boy if it wasn't for a good reason." Molly said smiling at him.

Harry shrugged. "He's not that bad anymore. We get along okay, these days."

"Yeah right, he's a Malfoy, mate." Ron said looking disgusted. "Death Eater scum."

Harry said nothing, not having energy to fight with Ron, though he felt a sudden urge to defend Draco. Luckily he didn't have to as someone beat him to it.

"Shut the hell up Ronald and grow up!" Ginny said fiercely. "You're not in school anymore. You know nothing about the man Draco is today. Besides, if our mum or better yet any of us had been threatened to be killed if you didn't join the Death Eaters, what would you have done? The war has been over for twenty years in the past, it's time you let it stay there."

That shut Ron up and Harry sent Ginny a grateful look.

"I still can't believe you got married and didn't invite us!" Hermione exclaimed. "We're supposed to be best friends!"

"Draco and I wanted to keep it small an intimate." Harry explained hoping it would be enough.

"Still…" Hermione started but was interrupted by run.

"Well I for one wouldn't have come even if you did." He said his arms crossed, face crunched up in disgust.

Harry opened his mouth to protest but felt another wave of nausea hit him and held his head hoping to keep it in.

"There's something you're not telling us." Hermione said looking at Harry with a calculating look in her eyes.

Nausea passed, Harry exchanged glances with Ginny, who gave him a small nod of encouragement, before sighing deeply.

"Around the same time I found out about the contract, I visited Saint Mungos and found out I have leukemia." He said.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione exclaimed tears forming in her eyes as she hugged him tightly. "Please tell me it's not the worst kind."

Harry offered her a weak smile that told her it was just that.

"Oh Harry. But there are treatments for that too, aren't there? I have read that they can do bone marrow transplants and…"

"Yes I'm aware of all that, Hermione. Angelina explained it all to me. It's just that my luck on surviving alive from situation to situation has finally run its course. My tissue type is so rare it exist only in a handful of people in the whole world. The healers are doing all they can but…"

"How long?"

"Less than a year." Harry said quietly.

"Oh my god." Hermione said now crying. "Why didn't you tell us?" She cried hugging him again.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want anything to change." Harry said hugging her back. He gazed around the room and found that every woman in the room had tears in her eyes. He saw Arthur comforting Molly while Bill was holding Fleur with a somber look on his face. A pale-looking Ron was just standing there frozen and Albus was comforting his sister along with Ginny.

And from that moment it really hit him: nothing was going to be the same again.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought.**

**\- Dalnim**


	13. The Misunderstanding and Consequences

**A/N: Thank you for amazing reviews! Here's another chapter, in which we get some development on Harry and Draco's relationship, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

The awkwardness between Harry and Draco lasted the whole week. The tension between the two was great and it made everyone avoid being in the same room with them, not that it mattered much as the two avoided each other as much as they could.

Draco had gone back to work three days after the wedding. He worked long days partly because he wanted to avoid Harry and partly because he was disturbed all the time by the press who wanted any kind of comment from him regarding his and Harry's marriage.

And so it was that he came home late in the evening a week after the wedding, tired after a long day only to stop dead in the hallway, listening.

"Ahh. Yeah. Yess Harry. There, right there. Mmmm… Don't stop. Ahh."

He could hear the Weaslette _moaning _in the living room. Moaning Harry's name. _His_ husband's. Draco felt angry. He had been married to Potter for a week and he was already fucking the Weaslette.

"Mmmm… God I love your hands, Harry." The Weaslette gasped and Draco had enough. Gritting his teeth he stormed towards the living room and entered, only to stop at the sight in front of him.

Weaslette was lying on the sofa on her stomach dressed only in a sheet while Potter was standing above her, massaging her oil-covered back.

"Oh Hello Draco." Ginny said noticing him by the door. "How was your day?"

Draco just stared at them still in shock. Potter was massaging her. _Massaging,_ not fucking.

"Draco? You okay?" Potter asked and Draco shook his head mentally and cleared his throat.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just tired. A long day." He said.

"You should have Harry give you a massage. He has the most amazing hands! Really you should try it." Ginny said wrapping the sheet better around her as she stood up from the sofa.

"I don't know…" Draco said awkwardly.

"I don't mind." Harry said. "It's not like I have anything better to do." He shrugged.

"Great." Ginny exclaimed grinning before kissing Harry's cheek. "Thanks Harry. I'm going to get a shower and get ready for my date. Have fun boys." She winked smirking before exiting the room.

Harry rolled his eyes before turning to Draco.

"Just take your clothes off and lay down on the sofa." Harry said.

"All of them?" Draco blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Depends on what you want." Harry said with a slight smirk. "Do you want a full body massage or just some part?"

"How should I know?"

"Well let's start with your back and if you like it we can move onto different parts." Harry said. "Just get down on your boxers. It's easier for me to work that way."

Draco nodded and stripped to his boxers not noticing Harry looking at him appreciatively.

"Now lie down and try to relax." Harry said pouring some oil onto his hands and rubbing them together while Draco complied.

Suddenly Harry's hands were on him working through the tension on his back and shoulders and Draco felt like he had died and gone to heaven. Weaslette had been right – Harry's hands were amazing! Draco had a very hard time trying to bite back the moans that threatened to escape from his lips and he was very aware of the fact that he was starting to develop a bit of a _problem_. The fact that the memories of their wedding night worked their way into his mind didn't help either.

Or that Harry was working down his back and had started to massage his legs and thighs, pressing him into the couch. At that Draco could no longer suppress the moan.

"You know, I've been thinking…" Harry started and Draco could hear his voice was slightly husky. "Since we're both grown men and have certain…_needs_ – we could help each other out at times… And well, the bond doesn't exactly let us have relationships with other people. So, I could help you out with that little problem of yours without any attachment or the awkwardness of the past week…" At that Draco felt Harry straddle him and something hard press through his boxers onto his arse. "You see, I have no intention to spend the last few months of my life living like a monk and frankly Draco, you're not at all bad in bed." He purred into Draco's ear making him groan even louder.

"So what say you? Shall we continue this… massage in the bedroom?" Harry asked trailing his fingers down Draco's spine, making him shudder.

"Oh, Merlin yes!"

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up feeling oddly refreshed. It took a while for him to figure out the reason and he felt himself flush as the events of the night before flooded into his mind. He quickly sat up and turned to look at the other side of the bed finding it empty. He sighed in relief and collapsed back to the bed.

Did he really seduce Draco Malfoy into having sex with him or did he just dream it all? The fact that he was sleeping naked told him all about it. Groaning he buried his head into the pillow. Damn Ginny for convincing it was a good idea.

**Flashback**

_"—__really Harry, you and Malfoy are making us all feel awkward. I mean really, it's just sex! Everyone knew you'd have to finalize the bond by having sex, there's really no need to feel awkward about him." Ginny was saying as Harry was rubbing her shoulders. _

_"__It's Malfoy, Gin… We were enemies for so long and now suddenly sleeping with each other… it's bound to be awkward." Harry said._

_Ginny sighed._

_"__Was he even any good?" She asked._

_"__Ginny!"_

_"__Come on Harry I've been dying to know the whole week! You can tell me." Ginny said. "I know you want to."_

_Harry rolled his eyes._

_"__Fine. Yes, he was."_

_"__Oh?" Ginny said eagerly. "How good? Come on Harry, I want details!"_

_"__On scale 4-10, I'd say 9." Harry said. "And no, I'm not gonna tell you details."_

_"__9?" Ginny exclaimed. "Wow, that's good for a first time."_

_"__Hmmm…"_

_"__So, worth of doing it again?" Ginny asked._

_"__What?"_

_"__Would you do it again?" Ginny repeated. "Sleep with Draco."_

_"__No! Yes… No...I don't know…"_

_"__Come on Harry, be honest."_

_"__Fine. Yes, I'd do it again." Harry said in resignation. In fact he hadn't gotten the night he spent with Draco out of his mind in the whole week._

_"__Then what stops you?" Ginny asked._

_"__What?!" Harry asked shocked, his hands stopping the massaging._

_"__Well why not? You're married and it's not like the bond lets you to have affairs with other people. You can't possibly think to spend the rest of your life without having sex. Live a little Harry!"_

_"__And how do you suggest I talk Malfoy into it?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow as he resumed massaging Ginny._

_"__Seduce him of course!" Ginny said._

_"__Are you mad? This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about, Gin. He will mock me for even trying and will never let me live it down. There's no way it's going to work." Harry cried._

_"__Of course it will work. You only need to do it a bit more subtly."_

_"__Oh?"_

_"__Just offer to give him a massage and when he's puddle in your hands you seduce him. There's no way he'll turn you down. Besides, I doubt very much that he wants to live like a monk either. Everyone has needs, even Draco." Ginny said like it was obvious._

_"__No way, Gin. There's no way I'm gonna seduce Malfoy."_

**End of Flashback**

But that was exactly what he had done.

Harry groaned again into his pillow. If the morning after the wedding night was awkward, then how awkward would this one be? Harry could just imagine how the breakfast would go. They'd once again avoid each other's gaze and when they'd accidently meet they'd both be blushing. And worst of all everyone would know! The kids really didn't need to know when he and Draco had had sex!

Why the hell did he ever go along with Ginny's crazy plan?

Well, he did know.

The bloody incredibly amazing and brilliant sex. How they moved together like they were made for each other – two missing pieces of a whole. How Draco's body felt in his arms and how beautiful he looked when he was falling asleep just after. Harry wanted to have that all the time. Every night. And he would take what he could have, even if it was just sex.

Harry's mind flashed back to the night before. He thought about what exactly made him feel awkward about the whole situation. Like Ginny had said they were both grown men, not to mention_ married._ It would be natural for them to have sex. Of course the complicating thing was the fact that their marriage wasn't by their own choice and then there was their past.

Harry dragged himself out of the bed and into the shower thinking of his relationship with Draco. It was weird how content and… right he felt when he was with him whether it was sleeping with him or just spending time together, when they had been the biggest rivals in the past and spend seven years hating each other. It was that reality that drew them back every time they got comfortable with each other, Harry realized. Their past haunted them and was in the way of what they could be, whether it was just friends or something more.

They needed to stop thinking of what they were in the past and leave it there. They needed to concentrate to the present and how they_ now_ felt about each other. At least on Harry's side it was completely different – in fact, it was quite the opposite.

Turning off the shower Harry resolved not to feel awkward about sleeping with Draco. After all as he recalled it, he had promised Draco no strings and no awkwardness.

* * *

Harry didn't see Draco till the evening that day. By the time he had made his way to breakfast Draco had already left for work. Harry used that time to get rid of any lingering awkwardness and resolved to act normal and return to treating Draco like he did before the wedding.

Harry was making dinner when Draco returned.

"Hey. How was work?" He asked as Draco entered the kitchen and poured himself a glass of juice.

"Fine." Draco said tiredly, sitting by the counter. "Mrs. Hunt came to visit again." He said with a roll of his eyes and Harry grimaced in sympathy.

"What did she want this time?" Harry asked.

"She wanted to know if she can sue her neighbor's dog for doing his business in her garden." Draco sighed.

Harry chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"She really needs to find another hobby other than bothering law enforcement every other day." He commented knowing the old lady very well. She tended to call the Aurors for every little thing, for example, to arrest the post-owls that ate berries from her yard.

"Agreed." Draco said. "Apparently this was the third time this week."

Harry shook his head as he washed his hands and pulled out the ingredients.

"What are you making?" Draco asked.

"Roasted beef and potatoes."

Draco nodded thoughtfully. "Why do you cook anyway when you could just let the elves take care of it?"

"I like it." Harry said simply. "I guess I got used to it when I was little. I hated that I had to make food for my relatives, but now that I don't _have to_ do it, it's like therapy for me, it helps me relax."

"Could you teach me?" Draco blurted out suddenly.

Harry looked up surprised but smiled.

"Sure, of course." He said. "Take off your outer robe and wash your hands. I'm nearly done with dinner but you can help me make the dessert…" He said.

Harry started instructing and Draco did as told. They were making treacle-tart, which was Harry's personal favorite and the others too liked it a lot. Harry let Draco do most of the work and just instructed him from the side.

"Perfect." Harry said as Draco mixed the last ingredients and made the dough. "And now you taste it." He said taking some on to his finger and handing it for Draco to lick.

"I'm not gonna lick that!" Draco exclaimed.

"You have to; it's part of the process." Harry grinned. "Now come on."

"You're making that up." Draco crossed his arms. "There's no way I'm gonna suck your finger."

"You didn't have a problem at sucking something else of mine last night." Harry said playfully before even thinking it through.

A faint blush rose on Draco's cheeks but he refused to acknowledge that. Instead he grabbed Harry's arm and sucked at the dough covered finger a little bit longer than necessary.

"Mmm. It's good." He said taking some himself while Harry watched entranced, his eyes locked on Draco's lips.

"You have some over there." Harry said pointing at the corner of Draco's mouth. The blond tried to wipe it away but missed and Harry stepped in front of him. Their eyes met and for a second Harry considered Draco before deciding to just risk it and kissed the spot away.

Licking his lips Harry pulled back.

"You're right, it is good." He said with a slight smirk and before he knew it, it was Draco's lips over his.

It seemed that the dinner would have to wait for a while.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter and the story on the whole.**

**\- Dalnim**


	14. The Beginning of End

**A/N: Thank you for amazing reviews! Here's another chapter for you. There won't be too many after this one as we are nearing the end. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Harry watched as Draco slept peacefully his head leaning on Harry's right arm. He looked beautiful with his blond hair trailing his face and a content smile gracing his lips. After weeks of being together intimately Harry wished he could just tell the blond how he felt about him, but there was no point as he wouldn't live much longer and Draco most likely didn't feel the same about him. To Draco it was all just sex and Harry didn't want to risk his chance of being with Draco even only like this.

Harry trailed his hand gently down Draco's left arm, stroking the pale smooth skin till he reached the black tattoo on the forearm. All around it were scars like cuts. He frowned as he trailed his finger on them feeling the roughness of the scars that ruined the smoothness of the skin, having never noticed them before. Suddenly the arm disappeared from his hands and Harry sifted his gaze to Draco, who had finally awoken.

"You tried to get rid of it?" Harry asked quietly and Draco looked away from him as if ashamed.

After a moment silence he said:

"I didn't want to see His mark every time I looked at myself in the mirror. I wanted to forget."

"You shouldn't. The past should never be forgotten, but remembered so we don't make the same mistakes again." Harry said.

"I know my mistakes even without the mark." Draco snapped before continuing more calmly. "It just makes me feel like I will never be able to get rid of him. Even when he's dead his mark taints my body, my magic – my life."

Harry looked at him for a moment with understanding in his eyes before taking Draco's arm back into his hands. Again he stroked at the mark for a while before stopping the movement and just holding his hand on it, while Draco watched him with his grey eyes. Harry closed his eyes and felt the Dark magic that tainted Draco's arm. After a while he opened them again and waved his hand summoning a knife from the table and cutting his own hand before Draco even realized what he was doing.

"Potter!" Draco cried in alarm as he saw the blood, but Harry ignored him.

Harry pressed his bloodied hand over the mark and closed his eyes again before starting to hiss under his breath. Few minutes later he opened his eyes and took his hand away healing the wound and cleaning the blood off.

"It's gone!" Draco gasped staring at the now bare forearm. "How – how did you…?"

"Tom was always too arrogant." Harry said shaking his head. "The Mark only had a blood charm and Parsel-magic in it. He probably thought himself the only one who could erase it and he probably would've been too, had he not used my blood to bring himself back."

Draco looked at him for a second with tears in his eyes before kissing him deeply taking Harry by surprise.

"Thank you." Draco said and kissed him again, this time Harry responding.

"Mmmm…" He moaned as they battled for dominance. Harry pulled Draco onto his lap so that he was straddling him. "I think I should be rewarded for getting rid of your Mark." He said coyly as they broke apart to breath.

"Yes, I think you should." Draco smirked and proceeded to do just that.

* * *

The next morning nothing had changed. Draco was gone from his bed like always and the sweet moments they shared at night were to be forgotten. It had been their silent agreement from the beginning, but it didn't mean that Harry had stopped hoping that one day the blond man would stay and Harry would wake up comfortably cuddled in his arms.

Now especially, after last night's happenings Harry had hoped he would stay even if just for the gratitude Harry had seen in his eyes, but no luck with that – Harry woke up to a cold empty bed like always. He couldn't help but feel a bit hurt, though he couldn't really fault him for that – it wasn't part of the agreement after all.

Sighing Harry dragged himself out of the bed into the shower. For the next thirty minutes he tried to forget how good it felt to be in Draco's arms or hold him in his and how much his heart ached every time he woke up alone.

No such luck.

Trying to drown his feelings into the hot water didn't have any effect and after half an hour Harry just gave up, dried himself and got dressed. Ready for another day. A day that would drive him mad just like the others before it.

Harry was truly going mad without anything to do with his time. The kids came and went all the time, visiting their friends, Ginny was in a practice camp till the next week and Draco worked. So there was nothing to do. Harry would give anything to just have a case to concentrate on or hell, he would even volunteer to train the Auror trainees as long as it gave him something to do. Now he just wandered through the Manor and waited for his death for his illness was the one thing constant in his day, every day reminding him of it in one form or another.

But he was supposed to be on a vacation. Although he was sure Kingsley would be happy to have him back early, Harry had promised to Draco and Ginny that he wouldn't go to work anymore. In fact they insisted that he quit his job or at least take a leave of absence till he'd get better.

No one mentioned that it was very unlikely that he would.

So, Harry had promised he'd do it knowing that it wouldn't be sensible to go to a field when he could just collapse any time, but he still hadn't been able to hand in his resignation. He didn't want anyone else to know of his condition until it was necessary and well… maybe he did try to hold on to a tiny ray of hope that he would get better and could go back to work. Being an Auror had, after all, been his dream and he wasn't willing to let it go. At least not yet.

And now he would truly do anything to just be able to go to work.

Then a thought came to him.

_'__Why couldn't I go?'_ Harry thought. _'After all, no one in the Auror Department knows of my illness now that Ron too is on vacation. I could just tell Kingsley I decided to come to work earlier than planned. And if I don't go on any field missions I will be fine. Who cares what Draco says, I don't have to tell him, and Ginny's not even here. I just have to make up some excuse for not being in the Manor if someone asks.'_

And with that in his mind Harry changed to his Auror robes and Flooed into the Minister's office.

At last he would have something to do.

* * *

For a full week Harry had been able go to work without any of the residents in the Manor knowing. The kids had asked him where he had been during the day when they'd been home, but Harry had just made vague excuses like taking a walk and they had accepted it without a question.

Like Harry had predicted Kingsley had been more than happy to have him back early from his vacation. He had spent the first few days catching up to his paperwork before taking on a group of trainees to train. There had been a few very potential candidates, but Harry had a feeling that he needed to work on their group-working skills as they seemed to mostly just concentrate on themselves and not on the people on their teams – being an Auror was, after all, mostly teamwork.

And that was what he now had on his mind as he stood in front of the trainee group who were slightly intimidated by his presence, no doubt having heard rumors of his slightly strict training style.

Harry was just explaining today's exercise to the group when an angry shout was heard from behind him:

"Potter!" The voice yelled and Harry turned around to see a livid Malfoy glaring at him.

Shit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Malfoy." Harry said calmly. "My office." He pointed at the door that led to his office in the training center, before turning to the group who were looking at him with badly masked curiosity. "Do your basic workout and I don't want to hear even a whisper coming from any of you. Disobey and there will be consequences." He said before turning on his heel and walking to the office.

"What are you doing here Draco?" Harry asked knowing very well why the blond had come. What he didn't know though, was how he had found out.

"Like you don't know." Draco spat. "What the hell do you think you're doing, coming back to work?! Do you have a death wish, Potter? You know full well that it doesn't do any good to your condition, you're just making it worse!"

"Draco…" Harry started trying to reason with him. He couldn't just stay at home all day, doing nothing.

"Don't 'Draco' me, Potter. You could collapse any second while on a mission and put in danger yourself and everyone in your team…"

"I haven't been going on missions. I only-"

"You promised to me you'd talk to Kingsley and take a leave of absence." Draco shouted ignoring him. "You promised even the Weaslette. Do you even care about us, Potter? Ginny, the kids, _me_?"

Harry felt a tinge of guilt in his chest. Of course he cared. He just couldn't stay cooped up in the house all day… Suddenly Harry felt angry. How dare Malfoy claim that he didn't care about his children!

"Of course I care! How could you even…"

"Well, you have a funny way of showing it, Potter." Draco sneered at him. "I'm sure the kids would just love to hear how their father in his idiocy went back to work and got killed in a mission because he collapsed during a fight. You have a fucking Leukemia, Potter, you can't just go back to work like nothing's wrong!"

"I haven't been going on missions!" Harry cried in frustration. "Why do you even care anyway, Malfoy? You're the one that will be stuck with me for the rest of your life, if I for some miraculous reason don't die after all. You should be happy." Harry spat.

"What if I want to be stuck with your idiotic arse for the rest of my life?" Draco shot back angrily glaring at him till he realized what he had just said.

There was a few seconds' of shocked silence till Draco turned on his heels and stormed out of the office.

"Draco, wait…!" Harry yelled after him and tried to follow, but a wave of dizziness washed over him and he fell onto the floor. He spent the next ten minutes clutching his head and breathing hard till it passed and he was able to get up again. Harry stood shakily and looked at himself in the mirror that hung on his office wall. His glamour had fallen revealing the real toll that his sickness was taking on him. His face was pale and gaunt and he had black circles under his eyes. He was horribly thin and his pale skin was sweaty after the dizziness. Harry knew that he wouldn't be among the living much longer.

Recasting his glamour he exited the office and returned to the training area where his trainees were doing the exercise he had told them to. One glance at their too innocent faces and lack of sweat on their skin, told him that they had ignored his earlier order and most likely eavesdropped on his and Draco's conversation (shouting-match) through his silencing spells. After all his and Draco's marriage had been the hot topic in the Ministry since the article in the Prophet.

"Enough!" Harry yelled at them with a glare that Snape would have been proud of. The trainees stopped their exercise and stood in line in front of him, all avoiding his gaze. "Now, whose brilliant idea it was to eavesdrop on a private conversation?" He asked in a clam, cold voice letting his magic float around him.

The trainees stiffened feeling his anger through his magic and gulped. Everyone in the Auror department knew that Harry was one of the best and skilled Aurors and a brilliant trainer, who loved his job (he refused to stop training new Aurors even after being promoted to Head Auror). Everyone always hoped that they would get Harry as their trainer having heard that he was the best and while strict, the most approachable and always welcomed the input of the trainees themselves. However, Harry was also infamous of his temper and no-one was willing to cross him when he was mad at something.

"Well?" He growled.

The trainees flinched at the tone of his voice and one of the trainees' stuttered: "I-It was A-Anderson's idea."

"Anderson step forward!" Harry barked and the young, only nineteen-year-old boy complied. "You too Donovan." He added to the girl who had answered him.

"Now, what makes you think you have the right to listen to my private conversation?" Harry asked Anderson, who flinched.

"Nothing Sir, I'm sorry Sir."

"Then why do it?"

"I – well, we – we were just curious…" Anderson mumbled.

"Curious?" Harry asked through his gritted teeth, he really had no energy to deal with this today.

"Yes, Sir. There have been a lot of rumors about you and Malfoy, Sir."

"Potter-Malfoy." Harry corrected automatically. "And what do these rumors say?"

"I – well – that you have been drugged by Malfoy – sorry Sir – Potter-Malfoy and forced to marry him."

"And you believe that I as the _Head_ of the _Auror_ Department couldn't detect any drugs or compulsion spells or potions meant for me?"

Anderson turned red.

"I - S-Sorry Sir."

"Donovan!" Harry barked suddenly and the girl jumped. "You are Anderson's training partner, correct?" He asked knowing very well that was the case.

"Yes Sir."

"How would you define a partner?"

"I - well, Sir?" The girl stuttered.

"You don't know?" Harry asked and continued without giving her time to answer. "Well how about I tell you? Now listen! All of you. A partner is someone you work with on the field. A partner is someone in whose hands you will trust your life to. A partner is someone who will watch your back, who will save your life over and over again while you do the same for him/her. A partner is someone who will _NEVER_ rat you out even when hit with a Cruciatus curse over and over and tortured into the brink of Death. A partner is someone who will _die_ so that you can live." Harry said quietly, but his voice carried over to everyone.

"Now, Miss Donovan, do you consider yourself a good partner for Anderson here?"

"N-no Sir." The girl said quietly in brink of tears.

"Good, work on that. This goes to all of you." Harry said gazing at the other trainees. "If you think you can't do all those things for your partner, you will not be able to become a proper Auror. Being an Auror is about teamwork and being able to count on each other."

"Now onto your punishment." Harry said and the trainees grimaced, but didn't dare complain. "Ten laps on the running area and 50 push-ups and 50 sit ups. Anderson and Donovan: fifteen laps and 70 both push-ups and sit-ups. When you're done report to Auror Spinnet. Dismissed!" He said and the trainees hurried to the running areas.

Sighing Harry made his way to the Minister's office – it was time to keep his promise to Draco and quit his job. After all, there was no point in trying to hide his illness anymore as the whole training team had no doubt heard all about it.

Harry nodded to Kingsley's secretary before entering the office.

"Harry, what brings you here?" Kingsley asked looking up from his paperwork.

"Hi Kingsley." Harry greeted before sitting on the chair opposite the minister. "I have come to hand in my resignation."

"What?!" Kingsley asked shocked. "But why? You love your job."

"Yeah, well… Just something came up, so I won't be able to work anymore."

"What is it? I'm sure we can find some kind of solution…"

"I'm dying King." Harry said with a sigh. He had hoped to just resign without having to tell anyone about his illness personally – they'd find out about it through the rumors anyway – but it appeared Kingsley wouldn't let him go without a proper reason.

"What?"

"I've got Leukemia."

"But. It's treatable isn't it?"

"It would be, but since I'm me, I need some extremely rare tissue type, which can be found in very few people." Harry said attempting not to sound bitter.

"How long…?"

"Less than a year they told me when I was diagnosed." Harry said. "That was in March."

"In March? And you didn't say anything."

"There was no point as I was still able to work normally and then I was on a holiday in the summer." Harry shrugged.

"You don't seem very bothered about this." Kingsley observed slightly worried.

"I was ready to die when I was seventeen Kingsley. I did die. It's not so bad. Besides, I have people waiting for me there."

"And what about your family and friends here?"

"Of course I'm gonna miss them. It's not like I _want _to die, Kingsley. I'm just saying I have accepted that when my time comes it comes. And now I feel like it's gonna happen soon."

"Don't say that Harry. There's still time."

"Not much. And I very much doubt they will be able to find me a match in time."

"Of course they're gonna do it. You're Harry Potter. There is no impossible when it comes to you. If Voldemort couldn't kill you, I very much doubt that some Muggle disease can, which is why I refuse to accept your resignation and will just put you on a leave of absence. Then when you have conquered your illness we can welcome you back to your position. I'm not gonna give up my best Auror that easily, Harry."

"Thanks Kingsley." Harry said with a small sad smile.

"Now who are we going to put in your place during the time you're gone?"

"Alicia Spinnet." Harry said instantly.

"Auror Spinnet, yes, she would be a good choice." Kingsley mused looking at her file. "She was your partner at some point."

"Yeah. During the time when Ron was at home with the kids."

Kingsley nodded.

"Well that's decided then. Do you want to inform them yourself or shall I?"

"I'll do it. But I'd appreciate it if the reasons of my absence wouldn't get out." Harry said. "Or well, at least that you wouldn't confirm it just yet – there's bound to be rumors flying around as my training group eavesdropped on Draco yelling at me earlier today for coming back to work."

"Well he's right, you shouldn't have." Kingsley said. "But of course I won't confirm anything until you give the go ahead." He continued. "I really hope you get better soon, Harry." He said and Harry shook his hand.

"Thanks King. I'll see you if I see you."

"When, Harry, when." Kingsley said and Harry offered him a weak smile before exiting the door. Now he only had to inform his department.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**\- Dalnim**


	15. The Surprise

**A/N: Thank you for reviews! Another chapter for you guys. More Draco in this one, but Harry will show up briefly at the end. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

_'__Shit. Shit. Shit!'_ Draco thought as he stormed out of Harry's office. He wasn't supposed to say that. He had sworn to himself that he'd never tell Harry how he really felt about him. There was no point, after all. Harry was dying. It would only hurt so much more if he started a proper relationship with Potter. He was content with the way things were now. With their purely physical relationship.

Really he was.

But contentment wasn't the same as happiness.

Draco reached the Ministry Floos and Flooed to the one place where he knew he could be in peace and collect his thoughts – Blaise's flat. He arrived at the spacious flat and made himself at home on the couch with a butterbeer since Blaise unfortunately didn't have anything stronger. Knowing his best friend wouldn't be at home till at least half an hour, Draco let his thoughts wander back to the matter at hand.

Damn Potter for being such an idiot. What was the Gryffindor fool thinking?! Didn't he truly care what happened to him? Or what the consequences of his action did to the people who cared about him?

Draco almost had a heart attack when he heard a pair of Aurors talking about Harry training a group of newbies. He knew full well that Harry's condition could get worse in a blink of an eye without any warning and he couldn't believe that he would put himself at risk like that. But he did and Draco was so mad at him.

He just wanted to yell and rant at him for stupidity and for making him worry and would have continued to do so at the office, had he not accidently slipped and as good as admitted that he was in love with Harry. He could still see the look of shock and something else on Harry's face and guessed that he should be grateful that he hadn't looked at him in horror or disgust. But Draco hadn't been able to bring himself to stay and find out what Harry's reaction would be. And he didn't know if a positive one would have been any better than a negative. Best not to know at all. This way he couldn't get hurt.

Draco was used to guarding his heart and hadn't let anyone in after having a bad experience with a man sometime after his divorce with Astoria. With Astoria it had been easy, since it was purely a business agreement, but when he had met Sebastian it was something else. Draco had fancied himself in love with the American wizard he had met through work. Sebastian had been a lawyer too and they had hit it off from the very first meeting and for nearly a year Draco thought he was it. But that was before he had caught him in bed with his secretary – a female secretary at that.

Needless to say after Sebastian, Draco had guarded his heart very closely and though he had dated a few wizards between then and now, he hadn't been able to bring himself to open up to any of them. Not until Harry.

Draco had always been somewhat attracted to Harry, even when they were in school, but his hatred at the image he had created of him had kept him from putting too much thought into it. But then, when he had started researching the marriage contracts with him and spending more time with Harry, ignoring the growing feelings became unavoidable. And reading about the romance between their ancestors with the diaries' not so censored description didn't exactly help the matter.

Draco could no longer ignore his feelings and dismissing them as purely physical attraction no longer worked either as he got to know the man for what he truly was. Draco could still remember the moment Harry had asked him to marry him. His heart had skipped a beat and he had felt warm in his stomach before he had been able to collect himself and react like himself. Still he hadn't been able to squash that feeling and the ray of hope that maybe Harry would feel the same.

But then of course, Harry had revealed he was dying and Draco had put his walls back up and convinced himself that he didn't care and that there would be no point trying to win Potter over now. Well, at least he had tried. He had still fallen madly in love with him and after their wedding night Draco wanted nothing more than to tell him how he felt and spent the rest of their lives together.

But he didn't.

And then, just the other night in the middle of the night, Draco had woken in Harry's arms feeling happier than ever with the other man stroking his arm, tracing the ugly mark on his left forearm. Draco had reacted instinctively and tried to hide the Mark even though he knew Harry didn't care about it (a fact that made Draco love him even more) and then the unbelievable had happened. Harry had gotten rid of the Mark and freed Draco of his burden. Draco had felt lighter than ever and his resolve to keep things purely physical between them had almost broken. He had poured every bit of his emotions and feelings towards Harry into every kiss and caress as he proceeded to show his gratitude to the raven-haired man and in the morning he wanted nothing more than to stay there wrapped in Harry's arms.

But he hadn't.

Harry had never showed any indication that he wanted Draco to stay and Draco didn't want to lose the little bit of affection he had with him. There was no way of knowing how Harry would react to waking up with Draco still in bed with him and Draco wasn't willing to take the risk and find out.

Draco finished the butterbeer and stood up planning to get another when he felt a wave of nausea run through him. Slamming a hand to his mouth he ran to the bathroom and knelt before the toilet just in time before puking his insides into it.

"Hello?" He heard a voice say outside the bathroom door and recognized it as Blaises. "Draco?"

"Here." Draco groaned.

"Hey, you okay, mate?" Blaise asked as he entered the bathroom.

"Ugh, been better." Draco said flushing the toilet.

"Upset stomach?"

"You could say so." Draco muttered washing his mouth. "This is the second time today and fourth this week."

"You look a bit peaky. You should go see a healer." Blaise frowned. "You must be coming down with something."

"Yeah."

"So what brings you here today? Trouble in paradise already?" Blaise smirked as the re-entered the living room.

"Very funny Blaise." Draco said with a half-hearted glare as he flopped down on the couch.

"So?"

"It's Potter…" Draco suddenly blurted out.

"Of course it's Harry." Blaise commented, but Draco ignored him.

"That damn idiot went back to work behind our backs knowing full well that he is in no condition to do so!"

"What?!" Blaise exclaimed. "Is he mad?"

"That's what I would like to know…" Draco muttered leaning back and closing his eyes.

"So what happened? I bet you let him hear exactly what you thought about that." Blaise smirked knowing full well how Draco was with the people he cared about.

"Yeah, I did." Draco said. "I went to his office and let him have it, but…"

"But…?"

"I ended up confessing my feelings for him." Draco groaned covering his face with his hands.

"About time too…" Blaise muttered under his breath. "So, what did he say?"

"Nothing… I don't know…"

"Let me guess, you left before he could say anything." Blaise said knowingly.

"Yeah, pretty much." Draco admitted.

Blaise shook his head.

"So what now?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, if you ask me, I'd say you go home and talk with him Draco. You two have been dancing around each other long enough. Honestly, I don't see why it is such a big deal. You're already married for Merlin's sake! Not to mention shagging…" Blaise said.

"Yeah, well that's not the point…"

"Well what is the point?"

"I- Well… He's dying!" Draco exclaimed.

"It's not too late to find the cure yet and the healers are still searching." Blaise countered.

"Yeah, there's like less than one percent chance that they're going to find the cure." Draco said trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Harry is a fighter, Draco. He if anyone is going to make it. Don't lose hope yet." Blaise said. "Besides, even if he is going to die, don't you think he'd want to spend the last of his days being happy? With you?"

"I don't even know if he loves me back…" Draco said quietly.

"Merlin you're so blind sometimes." Blaise muttered under his breath. "Well, you would if you'd just talk to him about it. Which is why you're going home now." He continued and ushered Draco up from the couch.

"Are you throwing me out, Blaise?" Draco feigned hurt.

"Yes."

"But I'm your best friend!"

"Har har. Now go to your lover boy and _talk_ to him."

"Fine, but if it goes wrong it's your fault and I'm coming back."

"Deal. And I'll have a bottle of Firewhiskey and chocolate ready for you." Blaise grinned.

"You better…" Draco started but was cut off by another wave of nausea. This time he didn't make it to the bathroom, but puked into the kitchen sink.

"You seriously need to go see a healer, Draco. You're pale as a ghost."

"I'm fine." Draco said weakly.

"No you're not. Come on, I'm taking you to Saint Mungos." Blaise said and supported Draco, who suddenly felt very weak, to the Floo.

* * *

The two of them Flooed to the hospital and Blaise spoke with an elderly healer who agreed to see them.

"Mr… Malfoy," The elderly healer checked his name from the papers. "Could you describe your symptoms for me?" She asked like she was talking to her favorite grandchild. It made Draco feel decidedly uncomfortable.

"Well, I've been puking a lot this week, usually in the mornings, but today it has happened three times already. I haven't been having much appetite either and have felt a bit dizzy a couple of times." Draco said uncertainly.

"Mmmhm." The healer hummed happily scribbling on the board. "Has there been any kind of incident today that could have caused you stress?"

Draco glanced at Blaise who nudged him and he said:

"Well, I had a fight with my husband."

The healer nodded knowingly.

"Okay, now, if you'd please lie down on the bed Mr. Malfoy and I will do a quick exam on you to see that everything is alright." She said kindly and Draco complied though, reluctantly. He was getting weird wibes of the smiling elderly woman. Were healers supposed to look so happy when their patients told them about their problems?

The healer waved her wand around him for a few seconds before smiling widely and gesturing him to sit back up.

"Well, everything seems to be going fine. There is no need to be worried about the morning sickness; it will pass in a few months, though I do advice you to avoid stressful situations, Mr. Malfoy, as they can be very harmful for the baby." The healer said firmly making Blaise and Draco stare at her in shock.

"Excuse me? What?"

"Morning sickness?"

"A baby?!"

The elderly healer looked at him her eyes gleaming as she patted his cheek.

"But my dear boy, didn't you know? You're pregnant."

"What?!"

* * *

Harry arrived home to an empty house feeling utterly mentally exhausted. He had managed to keep up his "I'm fine, everything's okay" –façade through his meeting with Kingsley and with his colleagues when he announced his leave of absence, but now that he was back home inside the walls of his training room with no one to see him he let his emotions run free.

He felt angry. Angry at his trainee team for putting into his business, angry at Ginny for making him promise to quit his job, angry at having to fight with Draco, angry at Draco for being right, angry at his situation, but most of all angry at himself.

Why did he have to put himself into that situation in the first place? He should have just kept his promise and stayed at home. He could have found something else to do. But he hadn't and now Draco was mad at him and refused to talk to him.

The first thing Harry had done when he had come home was to check if Draco was there. He wanted to talk things through with him – apologize. He didn't want to fight. He wanted to be with him, do the things they did, in what felt like were going to be his last days. He wanted to banter with him, argue about stupid things like they did every day, and hold him in his arms while they were sleeping after a round of lovemaking, for that's what it was for Harry. And now after Draco's slip up in his office… maybe it was like that for Draco too.

Harry wanted to know what Draco had meant by what he said. Did he really want to spend the rest of his life with Harry? Could he really feel the same as Harry did for him? Harry wanted to know. He _needed _to know. But Draco was nowhere to be found and all Harry could do was to wait for him to come back.

To come home.

Harry changed his clothes to his usual training gear, but left his shirt off, and turned to his punching back. He really needed to physically hit something and get his aggression out of his system before he could try to find Draco. He started punching the bag in a rapid pace with every bit of strength he had in him.

He felt so _angry._

Why did it have to be him? _Punch._ Why did it _always_ have to be him? _Punch. _Why was _he_ the favorite chew toy of Fate's? _Punch._ Why _every time_ something good happens to him he can't be happy about it? _Punch._ Wasn't saving the world enough? _Punch._ Wasn't losing everyone he loved enough? _Punch. _And now, when he for the first time in his life finds someone he truly loves, someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with, it's his school rival. And on top of that he's dying._ Punch._ How is that fair?!

_Punch._

_Punch. Punch. Punch._

And he's so tired. Why can't he be allowed to be truly happy for once in his life? He's not ready to die. What he said to Kingsley in the office was a lie. He is nowhere near ready to leave his friends or family behind. He wasn't ready when he was seventeen and he's not ready now.

_Punch._

He's scared. He knows there are people waiting for him in the next great adventure, but he's still scared. He doesn't want to die.

Not yet.

He wants to get better. He wants to spend time with his children. He wants to mend his relationship with Ron and Hermione back to where it was when they were young. He wants to tease Ginny about her relationship with Oliver. He wants to go back to work. But most of all he wants to tell Draco he loves him and hear him say it back.

Harry lands a final punch into the punching bag before falling to the floor so exhausted he can't even keep his glamour up anymore. He's covered in sweat and tears he hadn't even noticed had started to fall. For a few minutes he stares into his aching hands not really seeing them, before he finally let's go.

He lets the tears run down his face for the first time since he found out about his illness. He lets it all out and cries for his children, for Ginny, for his friends, for himself… for Draco.

And that is how Albus finds him half an hour later.

"Dad?" He asked cautiously seeing the shaking form of his father.

"Al?" Harry croaked instantly trying to collect himself. He didn't want his children to see him in such a vulnerable state.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked concerned.

Harry was silent for a few moments rubbing his face tiredly.

"No, Albus. Not really." He said finally. There was no point denying it anymore and frankly he didn't have the strength to even try.

Albus nodded in understanding.

Harry had always felt more connected with his youngest son than the others and not only because they looked alike. Albus was very much like Harry in personality, although they did differ in many things as well. The point was that Albus more often than not understood what his father needed and the other way around.

"Is there something I can do?" Albus asked.

"No." Harry shook his head. "Just… be there like you've always been. Seeing you kids do well, makes me happy."

"Not what I meant dad." Albus said quietly.

"I know." Harry said with a smile that was more of a grimace.

"Well, you can do one thing" He said. "You can help your old man up."

Albus pulled him up and Harry smiled at his son.

"Don't worry about me Al. I'll be just f…" Harry trailed off as a strong dizzy spell hit him and he collapsed on the floor.

"DAD!"

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think.**

**The end is near now. Will Harry survive or not and is Draco really pregnant?**

**\- Dalnim**


	16. The News

**A/N: Thank you for reviews! Here's another chap for you guys with a lot of Draco in it. Hope you like it!  
**

**Oh and I'd like to remind you all that there are the warnings for this story in the first chapter and they include a possibility of Mpreg!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Draco and Blaise sat in the healer's office gaping at the old woman smiling at them serenely like she hadn't just told Draco that he was pregnant, when a younger healer clad in light green robes, which indicated that she worked in the mind healer section of the hospital, burst into the room.

"Mrs. Hathaway there you are!" She exclaimed visibly relieved. "I have told you you're not allowed to leave your room without supervision." She scolded gently taking the elderly woman who had just diagnosed Draco with the impossible, by the arm and started leading her to the door.

"Excuse me, but what the hell is going on?!" Draco exclaimed. First he was told that he was pregnant by the unnerving old healer and now it was indicated that the woman wasn't a healer at all but a patient.

"Oh pardon me Sirs, I hadn't noticed you." The young healer said startled. "I apologize if Mrs. Hathaway bothered you. She tends to run away from time to time especially when it's time for her medicine."

"Bothered us?!" Blaise exclaimed. "She just diagnosed Draco and told him he was pregnant!"

"Oh dear, what trouble you have caused again Mrs. Hathaway." She sighed. "I'm really sorry about this. She was a mid-healer once upon time in her youth but then there was a spell-casting accident and her mind hasn't been the same since. Still she loved her job and sometimes when she escapes her room she pretends to be a healer again and tells people that they are pregnant."

Draco felt both disappointment and relief at the news.

"So this means that I'm not actually pregnant?"

The young healer frowned at him.

"You're a wizard are you not?" She stated like the answer was obvious.

Draco nodded but couldn't help but think of the stories his grandmother once told him before she died. They were myths about betrothed same-sex couples being able to have children because of the power between the contract and the couple as well as their feelings for each other. It was said that if the couple was magically powerful and their love was strong enough, magic would allow them to have a child. Still they were only stories and his grandmother could have just made them up herself – she loved all things romance after all.

"So if Draco's not pregnant we still haven't found out what's wrong with him." Blaise said.

The healer nodded.

"I will send a healer to you as soon as I get Mrs. Hathaway back to where she belongs."

And with that she and the fake-healer left.

Ten minutes went by before the door opened again and a woman who Draco recognized easily as Angelina Weasley nee Johnson.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Mr. Potter-Malfoy, Mr. Zabini." She said politely.

"Healer Weasley." Draco nodded in greeting hiding a smile at his surname. He felt a burst of happiness inside him whenever he heard it, which wasn't a lot at all because people still didn't accept that he and Harry were married. Draco didn't know Angelina well, but knew that she was Harry's primary healer during his sickness, which along with the fact that she used his proper name gained her his respect.

"How can I help you today Mr. Potter-Malfoy." Angelina asked.

Draco then proceeded to recount his symptoms once again.

"I have already been diagnosed with pregnancy today, so I was hoping to get a real answer this time." He commented lightly but instead of laughing Angelina had a thoughtful and a curious look in her eyes when she asked him to elaborate.

Draco told her about his meeting with the mind-ward patient.

"Interesting." Angelina mused and Draco felt annoyed not being able to read her properly.

"You do not think it is possible?" Draco suddenly blurted out before being able to catch himself and Angelina was brought out of her brief musings. She looked hesitant for a moment and Draco guessed that she probably didn't want to make any guesses when she hadn't even examined him yet.

"It's fine. Just give me an honest opinion." Draco reassured her. For some reason he needed to know what the healer thought. He knew from Harry that she was good at her job and very insightful.

Finally she relented.

"Honestly – and I'm not saying it is – there is a chance for that. I mean, your and Harry's situation is unique; there hasn't been a betrothed couple in centuries and the knowledge of magic involving that has been lost in time if it ever even properly existed. In addition this is Harry we're talking about…" She trailed of meaningfully and Draco knew what she meant. Harry was known for achieving the impossible.

"The symptoms you just described for me could be explained away with pregnancy and if you were a woman it would be the first thing we'd suspect. However I think it is best if we do you a full scan with all the test. When was the last time you had a health check?"

"I don't know, maybe six or seven years ago."

Angelina nodded.

"Then I further suggest that we do a full scan. It would be good of you to have a regular health check once every five years at minimum." She said. "Now we don't have your medical records here at Mungos', I assume you have employed a private healer before?"

"Yes. My mother's healer, Healer Pitch is the one who has done all my previous checkups, however she retired some time ago and I wasn't satisfied with her replacement so I decided to just come here."

"Very well, I suggest you send us your medical records as soon as possible as we cannot properly treat you if we don't know your medical history and possible complications or allergies you have had in the past." Angelina said. "I can make a basic scan on you but before we have your information I can't go any further."

Draco nodded in understanding.

"Maybe I could fetch your files for you, Draco?" Blaise suggested. He wanted to his friend get the best treatment as soon as possible and it was clear Draco wasn't completely healthy.

"Is that okay?" Draco asked Angelina.

"Yes. Meanwhile we can start with you basic scan."

"Thanks Blaise." Draco smiled at his friend. "I'll send Healer Pitch a Patronus ahead so she'll know to expect you." He added and proceeded to do just that.

Draco gave Blaise the healer's Floo address and Blaise left and Angelina instructed Draco to lie on the bed while she waved her wand around him and muttered spells under her breath.

"Well you seem to be in very good physical condition Mr. Potter-Malfoy. I believe we'll have to wait for your medical files to make further test to find out the cause of your symptoms."

Draco nodded and sat up on the bed.

"Just call me Draco, Angelina." He said deciding the formality wasn't really necessary as he felt comfortable enough with her and furthermore she was a friend of Harry's.

Angelina nodded.

"How are things at home and work, Draco?" Angelina inquired. "I'm asking because it is also possible that this is something stress-related." She explained.

"Fine for the most part." Draco said pausing before turning to look at Angelina. "Did you know that Harry went back to work?" He asked suddenly and Angelina looked at him surprised.

"No he did not mention that. What did he go back to work for? I told him to take it easy and avoid stressful situations."

"That's what I said! But the idiot still went back even though he promised not to! We fought about it today when I caught him in the training rooms."

Angelina sighed.

"Harry has always been stubborn when it comes to his own health." She said. Before she managed to continue though, there was a knock on the door and another young healer popped in.

"Healer Weasley we received Mr. Potter-Malfoy's medical records." She said handing them to Angelina before addressing Draco. "Mr. Zabini wished you to know that he had something he needed to do but would come back later."

Draco nodded his thanks and turned to look at Angelina who was skimming through his medical history.

"Well there doesn't seem to be anything that would prevent us from continuing." She said after a few minutes before handing the file back to the young healer. "Would you please go through this carefully Ana and put it in the records. If there's something you think I should need to know, you'll know where to find me."

"Yes, Healer Weasley." The girl said and left the room.

"I'm going to take some blood first and send it to the labs and then we can continue with the spell work." Angelina explained started to work. For the next fifteen minutes she performed all kinds of spells on Draco and scribbled her observations on the parchment, all the while talking Draco through of everything she did.

After one spell her eyebrows rose and her professional mask broke slightly to reveal surprise.

"What -?" Draco begun but was interrupted as another knock was heard from the door and young man in a trainee clothes peeked in.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Healer Weasley, but I thought you'd like to know…"

"What is it Danny?" Angelina asked.

"Mr. Potter was brought in a few minutes ago. It's code blue." He said and Angelina looked alarmed. However before she was able to react in any other way Draco was up from the bed demanding answers.

"Wait, what? Harry was brought here?! What happened? Where is he? Is he okay? What's code blue?"

"Draco please try to calm down. I will go out and see what's going on." Angelina said urgently. "Please, stay here." She said and then she was gone.

Draco stared at the closed door for a minute before deciding that like hell he was going to sit around and wait here when his husband was brought to the hospital. He yanked the door open and hurriedly walked through the corridor trying to determine where his husband was when he spotted Albus pacing outside one of the rooms.

"Albus!" He cried out and jogged to him. "What happened?"

"Draco!" Albus looked up and to Draco's brief surprise hugged him as he reached him. "It's Dad. We were at the gym, talking, and he asked me to help him up and when I did he suddenly collapsed and I didn't know what to do so I brought him here and then they took him into that room and refuse to tell me anything and…"

"Albus, Albus calm down son." Draco said trying to calm the panicked boy. "You did the right thing." He said sitting him down on the bench and crouching himself down to his level. "You did the right thing to bring your dad here. Now have you informed the others; your mother, your siblings?"

Albus started to look panicked again.

"No I forgot...!"

"Shh, it's fine, I will send them a message, but now you need to calm down. Take a deep breath." He said rubbing calming circles on the boy's shoulder while pulling out his wand and casting a few Patronuses to inform Ginny and the others.

Now all they could do was wait.

And wait they did. For two hours there was no movement from the room Harry was in. Ginny and the other kids joined them outside the door and they all camped out there waiting for news.

It was when the third hour begun that a group of healers exited the room Angelina included, who immediately made her way to their way.

"What is it? Is Harry okay?" They asked.

"He is stable right now but…" Angelina paused and took a deep breath. "To be honest, his body is failing him and if we don't find a match…" She trailed off.

There was no need to say it. Everyone knew what would happen when the time ran out.

"How long?" Draco managed to ask even though he felt like his throat was closing up on him.

"It's hard to say." Angelina said. "Could be from a few days to a few weeks."

Draco nodded stiffly tears threatening to fall down.

"Can we see him?" Lily asked between her sniffles.

"Yes of course. He is resting now so don't be long." Angelina said. "Now excuse me." She said looking over Draco's shoulder and Draco turned to see the young healer from earlier gesturing to her. Angelina went to her and he saw the girl rapidly explain something to her, gesturing towards a stack of files in her hand.

Draco turned his gaze away from them towards the door that separated him from Harry. Suddenly it looked much scarier than it had before. The others had already gone in but Draco found it hard to make himself move. He was scared of what he'd find inside. Scared that he would break completely for seeing Harry look so weak. Still, his need to see Harry won and he took a step forward and reached toward the door handle when a hand took hold of his arm.

"Draco?"

He looked up to see Angelina standing next to him an unidentifiable expression on her face.

"Draco, I need to speak to you about something."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!  
**

**What did you think about my pseudo-healer telling Draco he was pregnant? Was she right or not? And why Angelina wants to speak with Draco? Is there someting serious wrong with him? Harry's running out of time and there's no match in sight, is he gonna die or not?**

**\- Dalnim**


	17. The Closure

**A/N: Thank you for reviews! Terribly sorry about the wait, but finally here is the final chapter for you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

"What is it Angelina?" Draco asked as soon as they got into a private room. "Is it about Harry? Is there something else?"

"Yes and no." Angelina said raising a hand to stop Draco from asking further questions. "I got your results back and we found out what is causing you these symptoms…"

Draco looked at her in brief surprise as he had managed to forget all about his own reasons for being at the Mungos after Harry had been brought in.

"And?" He asked.

"It's true Draco. You're pregnant.

* * *

Tiredly Harry opened his eyes as he heard the door open. All the potions he had drank were pressing on him and making him feel very tired. Still by sheer will he stayed awake, waiting for that one person he really wanted to see.

It felt like hours till Harry felt the tension leave his body when he saw Draco's blond head appear as he walked in behind Angelina. He had feared that after what had happened that morning, the blonde would refuse to come and Harry really needed to speak with him. He needed to tell him something – something he should have told him many months before.

"How are you feeling Harry?" Angelina asked as she reached him.

Harry took one look at her and knew there was something she wasn't telling him.

"Out with it Angelina. What is it that you're not telling me?" He asked pointedly and watched as she exchanged a look with Draco.

"There's some good news. We found you a match." Angelina said.

Harry felt a wave of emotions run through his mind as he processed those five words. He had been hoping to hear them ever since he had found out about his illness. Even though that hope had been very small from the beginning, it had still been there and now it appeared that it was coming true.

Except… there was still something the two weren't telling him. He could tell by the looks of their faces.

Harry swallowed hard.

"What's the catch?" He asked quietly.

"The thing is…" Angelina started her eyes darting to Draco as she tried to find the right words.

"The thing is Potter that I'm your donor and you managed to get me knocked up which means there's an increasing risk for all of us." Draco said looking surprised at himself, but Harry didn't focus on it as he was too busy staring at his husband in shock.

"You're… you're…"

"Pregnant. Yes." Draco said a hint of defensiveness in his voice as he looked at anywhere else than Harry. "And don't you say that it's not possible because I'm a man. This is all your fault, you and your tendency to do the impossible no matter what it is. So don't go blaming me about this." He crossed his arms and Harry briefly wondered if he realized that he had positioned his hands so that they protected his stomach.

Then Draco's words hit him.

"Blame you? Why would I blame you? This is…"

"Unnatural? Abnormal? In-" Draco finished for him.

"I was going to say amazing, but… Is that what you think?" Harry said deep sadness washing over him. Could it be that Draco didn't want to have his child? Their child. Was the thought of having a child with him so disgusting that Draco would…? Harry didn't even want to think about it.

"Amazing?" Draco asked his voice cracking slightly and for the first time since entering the room he actually looked at Harry. Harry could see the mask on his husband's face cracking and saw the fear and hope in his beautiful gray eyes.

Harry tried to lift himself from the bed but found himself stuck with several wires attached to him. Annoyed he lied back and turned back to Draco.

"Come here please Draco." He said holding out his hand. Draco hesitated for a moment before moving to the side of the bed.

"Why on Merlin's name would you think that I would think that you having our child was anything less than amazing?"

"You don't think it's weird for a man to get pregnant? It's supposed to be impossible!" Draco asked incredulously.

Harry shrugged.

"I have seen a lot of so-called impossible things in my life." He said. "And I can say that this is one of the best." He lowered his eyes to Draco's stomach. "There's really our baby growing there?" He wondered softly.

Draco let out a relieved laugh.

"You think I didn't have Angelina check at least three times before coming here?"

Harry smiled. That was just like Draco.

Then the smile faded as he remembered the other news Draco and Angelina had given him. He thought of the risks involved in donation and fear washed over him.

"You can't be my donor." He said.

"What?" Draco asked.

"You can't donate for me." Harry shook his head. "It's too risky. Especially now."

"The hell I can't." Draco exclaimed. "I know the risks, Harry, for me and the baby, and I have made my decision. There is nothing you can do to change my mind."

"You would risk your life, the life of our child, to save me." Harry said helplessly knowing there was truly no changing Draco's mind when he was in that mood. "Why?"

"Why?" Draco repeated exasperated. "Because I bloody well love you! You're not leaving me to raise this kid alone, Potter!" Draco exclaimed and Harry stared at him stunned.

"You… You love me?" He whispered shocked and Draco started only now recalling what he had just said. Deciding that now was not the time to feel self-conscious he brushed his pride aside.

"Of course I love you, you great git." He huffed.

Harry stared at him for a moment tears forming in his eyes before he pulled the blond forward and kissed him passionately pouring all his own feelings into it.

"I love you too Draco." He whispered caressing his face with his hands.

"You're not allowed to die on me Harry." Draco choked up burying his face into the crook of Harry's neck.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to get through this." Harry murmured into Draco's hair, his arms around him. For you and our baby I promise."

Neither of them voiced the fact that it wasn't up to him.

* * *

**Epilogue: A few months later**

"I think she should be named Rose." Lily exclaimed.

"Please Lils, that's so cliché: "Lily and Rose." James rolled his eyes.

"It's not! And Rose is a beautiful name. Besides, it's much better than Daisy or Violet." She crossed her arms.

"Dad and Draco won't continue your stupid "name all girls after flowers" tradition"." James countered.

"It's not stupid! And I didn't come up with it. It comes from Grandma Lily's side."

"You two do realize that we don't even know if it is a girl or a boy." Albus piped in with a sigh.

"Of course it's gonna be a girl!" Lily said like it was obvious. "There's enough of you boys already."

"I wouldn't mind a little sister." Scorpius put his two cents in.

"Trust me, it's not all that fun." James grimaced as Lily hit him on the back of his head.

"Hey!"

"Children, children calm down." Ginny said smirking as she saw Harry enter the kitchen. "With your dad's luck there will be one of each!" She laughed leaning into Oliver's embrace.

"How are you Harry? How was the check up?" Oliver asked.

"Angelina gave me clear papers. I'm completely healthy." Harry announced grinning.

"That's so great!" Ginny exclaimed and hugged him. Soon they were all hugging and congratulating him and with his family surrounding him, Harry felt like happiness was bursting out of him. There was only one face missing.

"Where's Draco?" He asked as he let go of Lily.

Before anyone had time to answer though, a loud shout was heard from the upstairs and everyone, Harry included, turned their gazes towards the sound.

"HARRY!"

"There's your answer." Ginny said.

"HARRY! Get your arse in here, I'm horny!" Draco's voice was heard, clearly irritated.

Harry's face turned bright red as he turned to look at his family who were looking either shocked or amused.

"Well what are you waiting for Harry? Better not keeping your hubby waiting!" Ginny giggled.

"HARRY!"

"Um… I'll just… go see what he wants…" Harry gestured awkwardly towards the door before fleeing the room cursing at Draco's hormones as a choir of laughter trailed behind him.

"As if we don't know what he wants." He heard Ginny laugh.

Harry groaned at his embarrassment and made his way to his and Draco's room, his mind going to his pregnant husband who was waiting for him there and suddenly he smiled as he recalled the other times Draco's hormones had decided to kick in. They weren't at all that bad…

When he reached the bedroom he was immediately yanked in, the door slamming behind him and soft lips claiming his mouth.

"What took you so long?" Draco pouted angrily making Harry smile widely as he was pushed onto the bed and Draco straddled him. Harry's hands went immediately to Draco's stomach caressing the bump there as Draco once again claimed his mouth and kissed him deeply while his hands worked on getting rid of Harry's shirt.

No, the hormones weren't that bad at all. In fact they were perfect and Harry felt like he was happier than he had ever been in his life.

All was well.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought.  
**

**So that was it guys, I hope you enjoyed the story and I'm sorry if the ending seemed rushed, I just lost my muse for writing this. However if I do come up with something more I will post them here as one shots or something.**

**Anyways, thanks for sticking through the story with me and for those who follow Sky or Circle of Time I will try to update them as well.**

**\- Dalnim**


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